Average Salaries in the U.S. 2024: How Do You Compare?

Updated on Aug. 22.

Your salary probably doesn’t top the list of conversation topics when you’re making chit-chat with coworkers. That makes it tough to tell whether you’re ahead of the curve or due for a raise.

But there are resources to help you compare your salary with median or average salaries in the U.S.

The average salary for an adult in the U.S. in 2023 was $69,264, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, the median — the middle number in that list of salaries — is generally a more accurate figure to use when comparing salaries, rather than averages. Very high and very low salaries can skew the average. In 2023 the median salary was $48,069, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Individual incomes will vary widely due to a range of factors, in particular, due to education and field.

Here’s how median income has changed over time.

Find more average and median salaries of current occupations using Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

Education level

More education typically leads to higher wages and lower rates of unemployment, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

» MORE: Is College Worth It?

Field of study and school attended

Among those who do attend college, earnings could differ by field of study. Among bachelor’s degree holders, those who studied STEM fields — that’s Science Technology Engineering and Math — typically see the highest average starting salaries.

» MORE: Training for the future: the most in-demand jobs

Advanced degrees often pay off in the same field of study. Among those with graduate degrees, those who studied STEM also earn higher salaries, on average. For example, the average salary for a graduate with a bachelor’s degree in computer sciences is expected to earn an average of $76,736 in 2024, but a master’s degree holder in the same field is projected to earn an average of $85,403 in 2024, data from the National Association of Colleges and Employers shows.

But more education doesn’t always equal higher earnings — it depends on the field of study. A 2021 study by Georgetown University’s Center for Education and the Workforce found that one quarter of workers with a bachelor’s degree have higher earnings than half of those with a master’s or a doctoral degree.

For example, Georgetown CEW found that about a quarter of bachelor’s degree holders who studied communications and journalism have incomes in the highest percentile of earnings. Those high earning communications and journalism graduates would see $4.1 million in lifetime earnings — greater than the media lifetime earnings of $3.8 million for those with bachelor’s degrees in architecture and engineering, which is the highest-earning field overall.

However, the median architecture and engineering graduate would still see higher lifetime earnings than those with the highest percentile of earnings in fields like agriculture and natural resources ($3.7 million); law and public policy ($3.7 million); humanities ($3.7 million); arts ($3.5 million); psychology ($3.2 million); and education ($2.7 million).

That also means that if you had to take on more debt for that advanced degree, it may not pay off.

The school you attend could also affect your earnings. Use the College Scorecard, a data tool from the U.S. Department of Education, to compare data on earnings for your field of study across multiple colleges.

» MORE: Is a masters degree worth it?

Experience level

Over the course of your career, wages will grow at different rates according to experience level, which typically correlates with age.

That’s why early career earners earn less than midcareer earners. Midcareer (ages 35-44) is typically where the largest increases will happen. By late career, wage increases are lower.

Location

Earnings also differ according to where you live. Those who live in cities versus rural areas tend to earn more. Here are some of the highest and lowest typical incomes by state, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest median annual earnings

• District of Columbia: $84,450

• Massachusetts: $60,690

• Washington: $59,920

• New York: $56,840

• Alaska: $56,140

Lowest median annual earnings

• Mississippi: $37,500

• Arkansas: $39,060

• West Virginia: $39,770

• Louisiana: $41,320

• Alabama: $41,350

Highest average annual earnings

• District of Columbia: $106,230

• Massachusetts: $80,330

• New York: $78,620

• Washington: $78,130

• California: $76,980

Lowest average annual earnings

• Mississippi: $47,570

• Arkansas: $51,250

• West Virginia: $52,200

• South Dakota: $53,230

• Alabama: $53,400

» MORE: Resources for reskilling: Worker retraining programs

Demographics

There are earnings inequities — known as the pay gap or wage gap — that exist between one group and another. It typically references the differences between men’s wages versus women’s wages, but there are also wage gaps when measured by race and ethnicity, as well as sexuality and gender identity.

Pay gaps not only lowers lifetime earnings, but can make it more challenging for those who earn less than their peers to repay student debt even in the same field or occupation. For example, in 2023, women working in one of the highest earning job sectors — architecture and engineering — earned $1,635 per week compared to $1,864 per week that men earned, Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows. On an annual basis, men in that field earned $11,908 more than women.

Get a deeper look at pay disparities.

Resources for researching and comparing salaries

All of the data above is just a taste of what you can learn about majors, occupations and salaries. To find data more specific to your position and location, consider the following tools:

• More on specific occupations: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook.

• More on college programs and their outcomes: U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard.

• More on college return on investment, or ROI: ThirdWay’s Price-to-Earnings Premium report.

• More on specific salaries: websites like PayScale, Salary.com and Glassdoor.