Trump Touts Record U.S. Household Income in Census Data Post

Trump shares a Fox News graphic citing the Census Bureau, which reports median household income reached a record $87,460 in 2025, up 2.6% from a year earlier.

First Published: September 17, 2026, 6:15 PM ET

WASHINGTON D.C. — Donald J. Trump promoted a Fox News graphic citing U.S. Census Bureau data that shows median household income reached a record high in 2025.

Here is the full post on truthsocial: “LIVE U.S. HOUSEHOLD INCOME AT RECORD HIGH MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME, U.S. DOLLARS, 1967-2025 FOX NEWS 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 U.S. CENSUS BUREAU THE WILL CAIN SHOW” on September 17, 2026 at 6:10 PM ET.

This is Trump’s 8th message released today, out of nine total, and the last post was zero minutes ago, and it is not part of a thread. On average, Trump produces 18 posts per day since his inauguration on January 20, 2025. The move fits a broader pattern in Trump’s recent messaging, with 42 of his 568 posts over the last 30 days classified as Economy posts.

The shared graphic, aired on The Will Cain Show, tracks median household income from 1967 through 2025 and attributes the figures to the Census Bureau. Real median household income reached $87,460 in 2025, up 2.6% from $85,210 in 2024, and the highest level since the Census Bureau began tracking the measure in 1967, according to finance.yahoo. Because the figure is adjusted for inflation, that marked a genuine increase in purchasing power at the median.

The 2025 record surpassed the previous peak of $85,320 set in 2019, a level not topped until last year, according to cbsnews. The typical household in 2025 earned only about 2.5% more than in 2019, according to cbsnews. Median household income climbed 19% during the six years before the pandemic, from 2013 to 2019, according to cbsnews.

The gains did not reach every group. Income for households near the bottom of the scale barely changed in 2025, while households near the top saw income rise 1.7%, according to finance.yahoo. The top 10% of households saw income climb to about $261,300, while the bottom 10% recorded a slight decline to around $20,000, according to fox59. Median income rose 3% for white households and 4.8% for Black households, according to fox59.

Women who work full time saw wages grow about 3.2% in 2025, while men saw no boost over the one-year period, according to fox59. Men working full time still earn more than women, $72,380 versus $60,760, and women earn about 84 cents on the dollar compared with men, according to fox59.

Many Americans still feel worse off despite the higher headline number, consumer surveys show, according to fox59. Necessities such as gas and housing remain expensive, with the national average cost of a gallon of gas at about $4.33, according to fox59. The benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose to 6.71% in early September, according to fox59. Post-tax median income increased 3.1% to $76,060, yet remained below the post-tax records of 2020 and 2021, when pandemic-era stimulus payments boosted household resources, according to finance.yahoo.