The Average U.S. Household Income Versus the Average Federal Employee's Salary

House and Senate members should only receive the median U.S. annual salary so that they are a more equal representation of The People Of The United States. Same for all government officials. Mayors should receive the city median income. State reps, as well as governors, the state median. There are others as well. I think this would really fix at least a couple of the problems our government has. - Josh J, March 11, 2015

How much do Americans earn? What is the average US income and other income figures

By mybudget360

Breaking down US household income (this is combined household, not individual income) by category presents a clearer picture:


Source:  US Census

20.8 percent of US households make $100,000 or more. Only 4.3 percent make more than $200,000 and roughly 2 percent make more than $250,000.  Given all the ads you see on network TV you would think that every other US household was pulling in $200,000 a year given the kind of products that are pushed.  Of course most of the goods bought in the last decade were financed with massive debt and not actual saved wealth.

Where did income grow?

US income growth has been absent for most households.  In fact, over the last four decades most of the real income growth has occurred for the top 10 percent of US households:



`The typical family barely saw any real income growth and that is why many feel a true pinch to their wallet.  Yet household incomes for earners in the top 10 percent saw real sizeable growth over the last four decades.

In comparison, the average individual income for federal employees as of September 2012 was nearly $78,500. In a household with two wage earners working for the federal government, the average household income would be $157,000, $106,500 more than the average U.S. household income. The Office of Personnel Management reported that as of September 2012, the average salary for a full-time, permanent, non-seasonal position was $78,467. The comparable figure for December 2010 was $76,701. The median salary — the point at which half are above and half are below — is now $74,714, up from $69,550 in 2010. Local and State government wages are comparable to federal wages in many areas through the United States. In others words, some government employees are retiring as millionaires after 20 years (law enforcement and firefighters) or 30 years of service.


An Office of Personnel Management database shows that as of September 2011, there were 1.856 million full-time, permanent, non-seasonal federal employees. That figure is a head count that excludes part-timers and certain other categories of employees.

The database shows about 423,000 federal employees making less than $50,000, almost the same number as the 420,000 making more than $100,000. The remainder — just above 1 million federal employees — make between $50,000 and $100,000 annually.

Of those making less than $50,000, more than half, 245,000, make at least $40,000. All but 20,000 of the rest make at least $30,000, according to OPM.

Of those making more than $100,000, more than half, 273,000, make between $100,000 and $130,000. Nearly 13,000 make $180,000 or more. [Source]

On a side note, the vast majority of federal government hiring in recent years has been in homeland security (which means there are many more weapon-carrying federal employees).

Related:

• U.S. Government Plans to Use Military Force Against Its Citizens and is Arming Some of Its Employees in Case of Civil Unrest and Martial Law
• The American Workplace and the Shift from Manufacturing to a Service Economy: Manufacturing Employs 9.1% of the U.S. Workforce While the Service Industry Employs 83.4% (in Other Words, Service Companies Employ Almost 85% of the Workforce)