What is a very good income?
Does Half A Million Dollars Feel Rich? With a $500,000+ income, you are considered rich, wherever you live! According to the IRS, any household who makes over $500,000 a year in 2022 is considered a top 1% income earner.
For Americans ages 25 to 34, the median salary is $960 per week or $49,920 per year. That's a big jump from the median salary for 20- to 24-year-olds. As a general rule, earnings tend to rise in your 20s and 30s as you start to climb up the ladder.
General living expenses
It's thought that a single person living in London will need around £1,500 per month to cover their living expenses and just over £1,200 in Manchester. However, with the pandemic pushing inflation to a 10-year high, the cost of general living expenses is rising sharply.
Age | 25% | Average |
---|---|---|
28 | $25,025 | $54,221.10 |
29 | $25,100 | $54,718.76 |
30 | $25,200 | $59,818.59 |
31 | $28,000 | $57,537.18 |
The median annual living wage — defined as the minimum amount you need to cover expenses while saving for retirement — is $61,617 per household in the U.S., according to calculations by personal finance website GOBankingRates.
Men earned a median salary of $50,391 in 2021 while women earned $36,726, or 73% of men's salaries. The gender wage gap exists throughout the economy. The gender pay gap is most significant among self-employed workers. Self-employed women make $37,836, just 60% of the $62,880 that self-employed men earn.
Here's a closer look at the data: 16 to 19 years: $460 weekly/$23,920 annually. 20 to 24 years: $589 weekly/$30,628 annually. 25 to 34 years: $837 weekly/$43,524 annually.
Having $20,000 in a savings account is a good starting point if you want to create a sizable emergency fund. When the occasional rainy day comes along, you'll be financially prepared for it. Of course, $20,000 may only go so far if you find yourself in an extreme situation.
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What is the median individual income by age in the United States?
Age | Median Income |
---|---|
24 | $30,000 |
25 | $35,000 |
26 | $38,000 |
27 | $41,001 |
The government's department of work and pensions defines low pay as any family earning less than 60% of the national median pay. On this basis, there are more than 13 million people in the UK living in low-income households.
What salary is middle class UK?
According to the Statista report, women aged 18–21 earned £17,005 on average in 2021. The UK median salary for men in the same age group, on the other hand, was £18,392 in 2021.
The richest 1% of households are each worth at least £3.6m while the poorest 10% are worth less than £15,400 on average.

Everything is relative when it comes to finances. Pew defines the upper class as adults whose annual household income is more than double the national median. In 2022, the national median household income is around $75,000, up from $68,000 in 2021.
$32,188. Source: An analysis of 2020 earnings data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The Fed's most recent numbers show the average savings for the age group that includes 30-year-olds is $11,250. The median savings is $3,240. If you're in your 30s, you may have some advantages that could help you to grow your savings.
The London Living Wage is an hourly rate of pay, currently set at £11.95. It is calculated independently to reflect the high cost of living in the capital, giving a worker in London and their family enough to afford the essentials and to save.
You multiply your annual spending by 25, and that is the minimum amount of money you would need invested to fund your lifestyle without working. (A word of caution: Like with any rule of thumb, the 25 times rule is not precise. The proper use of this rule of thumb is to get a ballpark figure, not an exact number.)
As this is often based on multiple incomes in the one household, a single person earning at least $67,521 can be considered a good salary. What is this? This is especially the case when you consider the current median income levels in the US. For men, this is $61,417 and for women, it's $50,982.
The Pew Research Center defines the middle class as households that earn between two-thirds and double the median U.S. household income, which was $65,000 in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. 21 Using Pew's yardstick, middle income is made up of people who make between $43,350 and $130,000.
Included in this amount are all salaries and wages, but also other unearned income on investments or capital gains. The average gross annual wage per full-time employee in the USA was $74,738 in 2021, or around $6,228 per month ($4,648/year more than in the previous year).
What is considered upper middle class?
Many have graduate degrees with educational attainment serving as the main distinguishing feature of this class. Household incomes commonly exceed $100,000, with some smaller one-income earners household having incomes in the high 5-figure range. "The upper middle class has grown...and its composition has changed.
A general rule of thumb is to have one times your annual income saved by age 30, three times by 40, and so on.
Average Salary in the U.S. by Age & Gender
20 to 24: $607 ($31,564 annually) 25 to 34: $850 ($44,200 annually) 35 to 44: $999 ($51,948 annually) 45 to 54: $1,002 ($52,104 annually)
...
Age 65: $54,000.00.
Age | Median Salary |
---|---|
33 | $52,000.00 |
34 | $50,000.00 |
35 | $55,000.00 |
36 | $55,915.00 |
Putting away $1,500 a month is a good savings goal. At this rate, you'll reach millionaire status in less than 20 years. That's roughly 34 years sooner than those who save just $50 per month.