What Is The Average Salary By Age In The US?

Matt | Personal Finance

Average Salary By Age In The US (2025) | Plus 3 Tips On How To Increase Your Income #wealthbuilding #increaseincome #salaryincrease   Are you curious about how your salary compares to others in your age group in 2025?   In this video, we break down the average salary by age for individuals living and working in the US, from ages 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s. Whether you’re just starting out or planning for retirement, understanding salary trends can help you gauge where you stand and plan for the future   I also share 3 actionable tips on how you can increase your income!

Transcript

00:00If you've ever wondered how your salary stacks up against your peers, then this is the video for you.

00:05We're going to cover what the average salary is by age group for people who live and work in the

00:09US, for people in their 20s all the way up to over 65. And I'll also share three tips for how you can

00:16increase your own income. If you're new to this channel, I'm Matt. I'm a finance consultant. I've

00:21spent over eight years working for one of the top consulting companies in London. I now run my own

00:26company. And on this channel, I talk all things personal finance. So let's get going. According

00:31to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual income for employed people in the US is

00:36now around $59,000. The income figures in this video are based on median numbers or the middle

00:42point value, as it's often a more accurate representation of the everyday person, rather

00:48than averages, which can be skewed by a few very affluent individuals. The first age group is

00:53between 20 to 24. And they have a median annual income of over $39,000. For a lot of people at

01:00this age, they're finishing college or university, and they're really just starting their career.

01:05For the 25 to 34 age group, the median annual income is $54,912. This is the largest jump in salary

01:14by age group going up by over 39% compared to the 20 to 24 age group. And for the 35 to 44 age

01:23group, again, we see a big increase going up to just over $64,000 per year. The 40s and 50s age

01:30groups are when people on average are earning the most amount of income they will do over their

01:35lifetime. And the average income peaks for people between 45 and 54 with a median annual income of

01:42over $67,000. From 55 onwards, the average pay starts to decline as people are approaching the latter

01:50stages of their career. For people aged between 55 and 64, the median annual income is just over $65,000.

01:59And it decreases again as people get closer to retirement age. For people aged over 65, the median

02:05annual income is $61,100. So these figures can help you to understand how your income compares to

02:13others. And it may also help you to make more informed career decisions. However, one important

02:18thing to note is that there isn't just one average salary to compare to the median income varies

02:24significantly depending on factors like age, location, and the level of education you've received.

02:29For example, the median annual earnings for those with a bachelor's degree is 72% higher than those

02:36who didn't receive any higher education. And when you look at pay across the different states,

02:41the median income varies greatly too. Workers in California have a median annual income of over

02:46$73,000, while workers in West Virginia have a median annual income of just over $49,000. So you may be

02:54thinking, well, I'm below average income for my age group and demographic, or asking the

02:59question, how do you get to the point that you're above average, I'm going to share three tips for

03:04how you can try to increase your own income. In my view, the number one thing is to focus on

03:09building your skills and increasing your value on the job market, either to be able to negotiate a

03:15higher salary, or to be able to find a higher paying job. For example, if you're currently a waiter

03:20in a restaurant, and you managed to save up $500, and you take that money and you pay for a sales

03:25course, which enables you to get a sales job paying you more money. If you're then able to

03:31add the ability to do marketing on top while you're doing your sales job, then you're now able to run

03:36an ad campaign, get customer leads in and close sales. Your earning potential has just gone up

03:42tenfold compared to the pay you were getting as a waiter. The second point is to understand your

03:46market worth and to arm yourself with that information before you go into any discussions

03:51on paying compensation with your employer or potential employer. There are lots of tools out

03:56there which can help you do this research such as websites like Glassdoor, or you can look at job

04:01adverts on platforms such as LinkedIn, where you can see indicative pay ranges for the type of work

04:06that you do. I think probably the best way is to connect with recruiters to understand opportunities

04:11for a similar job at another company and what the pay would be like. The key is to get robust data

04:17which is comparable to your current job or the job that you're going for. For example, it's in the

04:22same industry, the same location and at the same job grade. By doing this and arming myself with the

04:28right information, it's one of the things that's helped me to double my income over the last 12 months.

04:34And I think if you can get in the habit of periodically doing this, it will put you in a much stronger

04:38position to be able to negotiate your pay and get your true market worth. And the third potential way

04:43to increase your income is to start a side hustle business. There are lots of videos on YouTube and

04:49online giving ideas on what you can start from scratch. And many of these you don't need to have

04:54lots of startup money to get going with yourself. For example, it could be teaching a short course

05:00online on how to edit photos, which you can do on platforms such as Udemy. Joe Parry is a good

05:05example of this. He's earned over half a million dollars since 2015 selling courses on Udemy,

05:11on everything from business planning to social media marketing and computer software.

05:16This is just an example to help get you thinking there are lots of different types of side hustles

05:21that you can start. Have a think about what strengths and skills you already have that could

05:26earn you some additional money on the side. The final point I'll finish this video on is that by

05:31having a high earned income doesn't necessarily mean that you're rich. An individual could be in the top

05:36five percent or even in the top one percent of earners. But if they have a high cost of living

05:41and lifestyle to maintain, the amount of money that they're able to save and invest could actually

05:45be quite small. For example, although you might live and work in New York City or LA and have an

05:51above average salary, the high cost of living means that your disposable income could be lower than

05:57someone doing a similar job earning less per month outside of these cities. The key to growing

06:02wealth is using earned income to be able to save and invest and over time to compound your investments

06:07to become wealthier and wealthier. So as well as trying to increase your income, you also need to

06:12manage your expenses and avoid lifestyle inflation, which is where as you earn more money, you spend

06:18more money and then at the end of the month, you don't actually have anything additional to save.

06:22So if you can combine income growth and do your best to keep your expenses at a similar level

06:27or within your means while your income goes up, you'll find you're able to grow your wealth at a

06:32much faster rate. I hope this video has been helpful. Feel free to leave any questions in

06:37the comments and give the video a like and a subscribe and I'll see you on the next video.

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