By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER, AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The income for the typical U.S. household barely rose last year and essentially matched its 2019 peak , the Census Bureau said Tuesday, as stubbornly high inflation offset wage gains.

The report also showed that the highest-earning households received healthy inflation-adjusted income increases, while middle- and lower-income households saw little gain.

Median household income, adjusted for inflation, in 2024 was $83,730, the Census Bureau said, a 1.3% increase from the previous year’s level of $82,690. The median is the midpoint between the highest- and lowest-income households, and helps filter out the impact of very high and very low incomes that can skew averages.

The figures help illustrate why many Americans have bee

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