An ‘average’ American income may no longer cut it
by Daniel de Visé - 06/21/23 6:00 AM ET
An average American income isn’t enough for a comfortable living in 2023, according to two recent reports.
The typical U.S. family earns about $71,000 a year, according to the Census. Yet, the average American believes a family needs at least $85,000 in annual household income to get by, according to a recent Gallup poll.
That finding tracks with a recent study from SmartAsset, the financial technology company, which found the average American worker needs $68,499 in after-tax income to live comfortably. (That works out to around $85,000 in total income, assuming a 20-percent tax hit.)
The two releases draw on a common premise: Many Americans earn too little in 2023 to attain a decent standard of living in their communities.
American households are feeling the pinch after three years of relentless economic headwinds.
Inflation, a negligible factor in recent years, surged to 5 percent in 2021 and 8 percent in 2022. It stands now at 6 percent, according to federal data for the first quarters of 2022 and 2023.
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https://thehill.com/business/4059025-an-average-american-income-may-no-longer-cut-it/
