Wealthy PotAverage Retirement Income: What Retirees Actually Live On, by Age, Household and Source
The median income of US households headed by someone aged 65 or older was $59,680 in 2025, or about $4,973 a month, according to the Census Bureau's latest annual income report. The average (mean) was much higher, $92,350, because a minority of well-off retirees pull it up. A married couple aged 65 or older had a median of $93,890, while a retiree living alone had about a third of that. This page breaks the number down by age, household type and source, and explains why the official figures probably understate what retirees really receive.
Table of Contents
The Short Answer
- $59,680 a year was the median income of the 41.9 million US households headed by someone 65 or older in 2025 (Census Bureau). That is about $4,973 a month before tax, and 3.1% more than in 2024 after inflation.
- The mean for the same households was $92,350, about $7,696 a month. The gap between the two is the clearest sign that a few high-income households skew the "average."
- Married couples 65+: median $93,890 a year ($7,824 a month). Living alone 65+: $35,590 for men and $31,540 for women.
- By person rather than household, the median income of people 65+ with any income was $34,610 ($2,884 a month): $44,720 for men and $28,240 for women.
- Income falls with age: households headed by someone 65-74 had a median of $68,800; at 75 and over it was $50,880.
- Social Security reaches 81% of people 65+. Only about 28% receive a pension, and about 18% report withdrawals from a 401(k), IRA or similar account.
- The average retired-worker Social Security check was $2,087.52 a month in August 2026 (SSA).
- All of these are survey numbers, and Census's own research has found that surveys miss a large share of pension and retirement-account income. The true figure is likely higher.
Median vs Average Retirement Income
No federal statistic is labelled "retirement income." The closest official measure is the Census Bureau's income for households whose householder is 65 or older, from the Current Population Survey's Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS ASEC). The latest report, Income in the United States: 2025, was published in September 2026 and covers income received during calendar year 2025.
Two things to keep in mind about that measure. It counts all money income of everyone in the household before tax, including wages if the retiree or a younger relative still works. And it excludes capital gains, so a retiree who lives partly by selling shares in a taxable account has some of that cash missing from the figure.
| Households, 2025 | Median income | Mean income | Number of households |
|---|---|---|---|
| Householder 65 and over | $59,680 | $92,350 | 41.9 million |
| Householder 55 to 64 | $99,320 | $140,900 | 23.2 million |
| Householder under 65 | $101,900 | n/a | 95.2 million |
| All households | $87,460 | $126,700 | 137.1 million |
The median is the household exactly in the middle: half had more, half had less. The mean adds everything up and divides, so it is pulled up by the 4.2 million households headed by someone 65+ that reported $200,000 or more. For judging what a typical retiree lives on, use the median. The mean is useful for one thing only: showing how lopsided retirement income is.
A household headed by someone 65+ has roughly 60% of the median income of a household headed by someone 55 to 64. That drop is smaller than it looks per person, because older households are smaller. Census puts income per household member at $51,150 for 65+ households, close to the $51,290 for all households. For how income moves through the working years, see our page on average income by age.
Average Retirement Income per Month
Most retirees think in monthly terms, because Social Security and pensions are paid monthly. Here are the Census annual figures divided by 12:
| Group (2025 income) | Median per year | Median per month | Mean per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| All households, householder 65+ | $59,680 | $4,973 | $7,696 |
| Married-couple households, householder 65+ | $93,890 | $7,824 | $11,033 |
| Man 65+ living alone | $35,590 | $2,966 | $4,828 |
| Woman 65+ living alone | $31,540 | $2,628 | $4,086 |
| Individual aged 65+ (people with income) | $34,610 | $2,884 | about $4,820 |
These are gross amounts. Medicare Part B premiums are taken out of most Social Security checks, and some retirees owe income tax on part of their benefits and on pension or IRA withdrawals, so the amount that reaches the bank account is lower.
Retirement Income by Age: 65-74 vs 75 and Over
Income keeps falling after 65, mostly because fewer people are still working. Census publishes household income by age band:
| Age of householder | Median household income | Per month | Mean household income |
|---|---|---|---|
| 55-59 | $109,000 | $9,083 | $154,300 |
| 60-64 | $89,260 | $7,438 | $128,400 |
| 65-69 | $71,400 | $5,950 | $108,800 |
| 70-74 | $66,030 | $5,503 | $96,470 |
| 75 and over | $50,880 | $4,240 | $78,940 |
The BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey shows the same pattern from a different angle, and explains it. For 2024, the latest year published, households headed by someone 65 to 74 had an average pre-tax income of $75,460, and those 75 and over $56,028. Wages and salaries made up 43.6% of income for the 65-74 group but only 19.3% at 75 and over. Over the same step, the share from Social Security and pensions rose from 41.5% to 64.8%. In other words, the youngest retirees are often not fully retired, and the drop in their income comes when the paycheck stops.
At what age most people stop work is covered on our page about the average retirement age.
Average Retirement Income for a Couple vs a Single Retiree
Household type matters more than age. A married couple usually has two Social Security checks and often two sets of savings; a widow or widower living alone has one.
| Household, 2025 | 65+ (all) | 65-74 | 75 and over |
|---|---|---|---|
| Married couple, median | $93,890 | $102,800 | $82,570 |
| Married couple, mean | $132,400 | $143,300 | $114,300 |
| Man living alone, median | $35,590 | $33,860 | $38,080 |
| Woman living alone, median | $31,540 | $33,830 | $30,240 |
There are 18.4 million married-couple households headed by someone 65+, and 18.3 million people 65+ who live alone, of whom 11.5 million are women. The single retiree's median is about a third of the couple's, even though a single person's costs are well over half a couple's. That is why the death of a spouse is often the biggest financial shock of retirement: one Social Security check stops (the survivor keeps the larger of the two), and a pension may shrink depending on the survivor option chosen.
Per person, the gap between men and women is wide. The median income of men 65+ with income was $44,720 in 2025; for women it was $28,240, or 63% as much. Women's lower lifetime earnings show up directly in smaller Social Security and pension amounts. Our page on spousal Social Security benefits covers how a lower earner can claim on a spouse's record.
Where Retirement Income Comes From
Census also publishes how many people 65 and over received each type of income in 2025, and how much:
| Source of income, people 65+ | Share who receive it | Median among recipients (year) | Per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Social Security | 81% | $21,320 | $1,777 |
| Interest (any amount) | 66% | $1,827 | $152 |
| Pension income (all types) | 28% | $16,940 | $1,412 |
| Earnings from work | 22% | $42,430 | $3,536 |
| Dividends | 20% | $2,195 | $183 |
| 401(k), 403(b), IRA and similar withdrawals | 18% | $10,580 | $882 |
| Veterans' benefits | 4% | $17,940 | $1,495 |
Social Security is the one source nearly everyone has. The Social Security Administration's own figure for August 2026 puts the average retired-worker benefit at $2,087.52 a month, or about $25,050 a year. That is higher than the Census median above for two reasons: it is a 2026 figure, after the 2026 cost-of-living increase, and it counts only retired workers, while the Census figure also includes spouses and survivors drawing on someone else's record. Our page on the average Social Security check breaks it down by benefit type and claiming age.
How much of a typical retiree's budget does Social Security cover? The BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey groups Social Security with private and government pensions, and for 2024 that combined line made up 49.5% of the income of households headed by someone 65+. Earnings were 35.3%, and interest, dividends and rent 7.6%.
Dependence on Social Security is much heavier for some retirees than that average suggests. An SSA study of the 2015 survey (covering 2014 income) found that 51.8% of people 65+ lived in families getting at least half their income from Social Security, and 24.7% in families getting 90% or more. For unmarried retirees those shares were 59.6% and 32.6%. That study is now a decade old, and SSA's annual Fast Facts no longer publishes the figure, so treat it as the best available measure rather than a current one.
Average Pension Payout per Month
Among the 18.5 million people 65+ who received any pension income in 2025, the median was $16,940 a year, about $1,412 a month. The type of employer makes a large difference:
| Pension type, recipients 65+ | Recipients | Median per year | Median per month | Mean per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal government | 1.3 million | $32,500 | $2,708 | $42,520 |
| State or local government | 5.1 million | $24,530 | $2,044 | $33,120 |
| Military | 434,000 | $24,280 | $2,023 | $36,710 |
| Company or union | 9.4 million | $11,290 | $941 | $18,590 |
| Annuities | 4.1 million | $7,944 | $662 | $17,230 |
| Any pension income | 18.5 million | $16,940 | $1,412 | $27,060 |
Public-sector pensions are roughly double private ones at the median. Federal retirees under CSRS and FERS lead the table; our FERS retirement calculator estimates what a federal annuity will pay from your high-3 salary and years of service. Private company pensions are smaller and rarer, a trend covered in our piece on why pensions disappeared.
Average Retirement Income by State
The Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) is large enough to estimate income for every state. For households headed by someone 65 or older, the national median was $59,648 in 2024. It ranged from $91,390 in Hawaii to $44,031 in Mississippi. Higher-income states are mostly also higher-cost states, so a bigger number does not mean retirees there are better off after housing and taxes.
| State | Median household income, householder 65+ (2024) | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| Hawaii | $91,390 | $7,616 |
| Maryland | $75,539 | $6,295 |
| Alaska | $74,308 | $6,192 |
| New Jersey | $72,905 | $6,075 |
| California | $71,673 | $5,973 |
| Utah | $70,712 | $5,893 |
| District of Columbia | $70,668 | $5,889 |
| Connecticut | $69,395 | $5,783 |
| Massachusetts | $69,095 | $5,758 |
| Washington | $69,010 | $5,751 |
| New Hampshire | $67,530 | $5,628 |
| Colorado | $67,322 | $5,610 |
| Delaware | $66,859 | $5,572 |
| Virginia | $66,450 | $5,538 |
| Nevada | $63,688 | $5,307 |
| Arizona | $62,575 | $5,215 |
| Minnesota | $61,129 | $5,094 |
| Vermont | $60,814 | $5,068 |
| Illinois | $60,697 | $5,058 |
| Wyoming | $60,674 | $5,056 |
| Oregon | $60,405 | $5,034 |
| South Dakota | $60,166 | $5,014 |
| Florida | $60,005 | $5,000 |
| New York | $59,909 | $4,992 |
| Idaho | $59,657 | $4,971 |
| Rhode Island | $59,258 | $4,938 |
| Texas | $58,739 | $4,895 |
| Montana | $58,390 | $4,866 |
| North Dakota | $57,708 | $4,809 |
| Kansas | $57,155 | $4,763 |
| Iowa | $56,419 | $4,702 |
| Georgia | $56,010 | $4,668 |
| Nebraska | $56,008 | $4,667 |
| Pennsylvania | $55,938 | $4,662 |
| Maine | $55,568 | $4,631 |
| South Carolina | $55,385 | $4,615 |
| Wisconsin | $55,336 | $4,611 |
| North Carolina | $55,235 | $4,603 |
| Michigan | $54,599 | $4,550 |
| New Mexico | $54,478 | $4,540 |
| Tennessee | $53,889 | $4,491 |
| Ohio | $53,095 | $4,425 |
| Missouri | $53,027 | $4,419 |
| Indiana | $52,592 | $4,383 |
| Oklahoma | $51,209 | $4,267 |
| Alabama | $50,483 | $4,207 |
| Arkansas | $48,078 | $4,006 |
| Louisiana | $47,263 | $3,939 |
| Kentucky | $46,685 | $3,890 |
| West Virginia | $45,778 | $3,815 |
| Mississippi | $44,031 | $3,669 |
| United States | $59,648 | $4,971 |
Why the national figure here ($59,648) differs from the $59,680 at the top of this page: they come from two different Census surveys and two different years. The headline uses the Current Population Survey for 2025 incomes, which is the Census Bureau's official income measure; the ACS is the only source with state detail, and its 2025 state figures are not out yet. Pages that quote a lower national median are usually using last year's report.
What Retirees Spend: A Typical Budget
Income only tells half the story. The Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Expenditure Survey shows where the money goes. Households headed by someone 65 or older spent an average of $61,432 in 2024, about $5,119 a month:
| Category | Per year | Per month | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing (including utilities) | $22,193 | $1,849 | 36% |
| Transportation | $9,538 | $795 | 16% |
| Food | $7,940 | $662 | 13% |
| Healthcare | $7,799 | $650 | 13% |
| Cash contributions (gifts, charity) | $3,158 | $263 | 5% |
| Entertainment | $3,025 | $252 | 5% |
| Apparel and services | $1,198 | $100 | 2% |
| Everything else (insurance, personal care, education, other) | $6,581 | $548 | 11% |
| Total | $61,432 | $5,119 | 100% |
So what is a "good" retirement income? There is no official figure, but a useful test is whether your reliable income covers your own version of this table. The same BLS survey put average before-tax income for these households at $67,462, a cushion of about $6,000 a year over spending on average. Healthcare is the line that tends to grow: Medicare premiums rise most years, and the 2026 Part B premium alone is deducted from most Social Security checks. Our guide to healthcare costs in retirement covers the rest.
Why the Official Numbers Probably Run Low
Every figure above comes from a household survey, and the Census Bureau's own research shows that the survey misses a lot of retirement income. In a 2017 working paper, Census economists Adam Bee and Joshua Mitchell linked survey answers to tax and benefit records for the same people. For 2012, the survey put the median income of households headed by someone 65+ at $33,800; the administrative records put it at $44,400, 30% higher. They found the gap was "mainly attributable to underreporting of retirement income from defined benefit pensions and retirement account withdrawals."
The federal government's interagency aging-statistics forum repeated the warning in its Older Americans 2024 report, describing "a substantial underestimation of the incomes of older Americans in official government statistics."
Two caveats keep this in proportion. First, the 30% gap was measured on the survey's old questionnaire. Census redesigned its income questions starting with the 2014 survey, partly to capture retirement-account withdrawals, and early tests found median income for older households about 4.6% higher under the new questions. The gap today is probably smaller than 30%, though no newer official estimate of its size has been published. Second, the undercount does not change who is struggling. SSA researchers have found that Social Security amounts reported in the survey closely match SSA's own records, so retirees who live mainly on Social Security are measured well.
The practical point: if you are comparing your own income with the median, your figure includes everything you actually take out of an IRA or 401(k). The survey figure may not include all of what your neighbors take out.
How Your Retirement Income Compares
Comparing yourself with $59,680 only makes sense if your household looks like the average 65+ household, and most do not. A better approach:
- Pick the right row. A married couple should compare with $93,890 (or $102,800 if the householder is 65-74). A widow living alone should compare with $31,540.
- Count all of it, before tax. Add up Social Security (before the Medicare premium is deducted), pensions, annuities, IRA and 401(k) withdrawals, interest, dividends, rent and any wages for the year.
- Compare against spending, not just other retirees. BLS found that households headed by someone 65+ spent an average of $61,432 in 2024, including $7,799 on healthcare, against average pre-tax income of $67,462. Our guide to healthcare costs in retirement covers the line that grows fastest with age.
- Check what your savings can add. If your income comes up short, the question is how much your savings can safely pay each year. Our retirement withdrawal calculator models that, and the RMD table shows the minimum the IRS requires you to withdraw from traditional IRAs and 401(k)s each year once RMDs begin.
Worked example (hypothetical). A married couple, both 68. One draws a Social Security retirement benefit equal to the August 2026 average, $2,088 a month; the other draws a spousal benefit of $1,000. One also has a state pension of $2,044 a month, the 65+ median for state and local pensions. They withdraw $900 a month from an IRA. Total: $6,032 a month, or $72,384 a year. That is above the median for all 65+ households ($59,680) but below the median for married couples whose householder is 65-74 ($102,800). Against the right comparison group, this couple is in the lower half, not the upper half. To check where Social Security will land for you, try our Social Security calculator.
If you are still working, the income figures on this page are the end result of decades of saving. Our pages on the average 401(k) balance by age and the average IRA balance by age show what retirees bring into those years.
Sources & Methodology
- US Census Bureau, Income in the United States: 2025 (P60-289), September 2026, Table 1, for median household income by age of householder and the 2024-2025 change.
- Census Bureau, HINC-02: Age of Householder by Total Money Income in 2025, for median and mean household income by age band, married-couple households and householders living alone.
- Census Bureau, PINC-01: Selected Characteristics of People by Total Money Income in 2025, for individual income of people 65+ by age and sex.
- Census Bureau, PINC-08: Source of Income in 2025, 65 Years and Over, for Social Security, pension, retirement-account and other income by source.
- BLS Consumer Expenditure Surveys, Table 1300, Age of reference person, 2024, for income, income shares and spending of households 65+, 65-74 and 75+. See also BLS, Consumer Expenditures--2024.
- Social Security Administration, Monthly Statistical Snapshot, August 2026, for the average retired-worker benefit.
- Dushi, Iams and Trenkamp, "The Importance of Social Security Benefits to the Income of the Aged Population," Social Security Bulletin Vol. 77 No. 2 (2017), for the share of older Americans relying on Social Security for half or 90% of income (2014 income).
- Bee and Mitchell, "Do Older Americans Have More Income Than We Think?" Census Bureau SEHSD Working Paper 2017-39, for survey underreporting of retirement income.
- Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics, Older Americans 2024: Key Indicators of Well-Being, Data Needs section.
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 1-year, table B19049: median household income by age of householder, by state.
Method notes. Census figures are money income before taxes for calendar year 2025, collected in the CPS ASEC in early 2026; they include earnings of anyone in the household and exclude capital gains. Household figures are by the age of the householder. Individual medians are for people with any income. Census calculates medians using $2,500 income intervals. BLS figures are 2024 averages per consumer unit, the most recent year published as of October 2026; we will update this page when the 2025 survey is released. Monthly figures are annual amounts divided by 12 and rounded by us. Shares of people receiving each income source are our division of Census recipient counts by the 65.2 million people 65+ in PINC-01.
This article is for general information and is not financial or tax advice. Figures are from the US Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Social Security Administration, checked against the primary sources on 2026-10-05. Survey data on retirement income is known to undercount pension and retirement-account income, and the worked example is hypothetical, so your own numbers may differ widely.
FAQ
What is the average retirement income by state?
For households headed by someone 65 or older, the 2024 median ranged from $91,390 in Hawaii to $44,031 in Mississippi, against $59,648 nationally, per the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (table B19049). The full state table is above.
How much does the average retiree spend per month?
About $5,119 a month ($61,432 a year) for households headed by someone 65 or older in 2024, per the BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey. Housing was the largest share at $1,849 a month, followed by transportation ($795), food ($662) and healthcare ($650).
What is the average retirement income in the US?
The median income of households headed by someone 65 or older was $59,680 in 2025, according to the Census Bureau. The mean was $92,350. The median is the better guide to a typical retiree, because a small number of high-income households pull the mean up.
What is the average retirement income per month?
About $4,973 a month before tax at the median for all households headed by someone 65+, based on 2025 Census figures. For married couples 65+ it is about $7,824 a month, and for a single retiree living alone roughly $2,600 to $3,000.
What is the median retirement income for a couple?
$93,890 a year in 2025 for married-couple households where the householder is 65 or older. It was $102,800 when the householder was 65 to 74 and $82,570 at 75 and over.
What is the average retirement income for a single person?
For people 65+ living alone, the 2025 Census median was $35,590 for men and $31,540 for women. Across all people 65+ with any income, the median was $34,610.
How does retirement income change with age?
It falls. Median household income was $71,400 for householders aged 65 to 69, $66,030 at 70 to 74 and $50,880 at 75 and over in 2025. The main reason is that fewer older retirees are still earning wages.
How much of retirement income comes from Social Security?
For households headed by someone 65+, Social Security and pensions together made up 49.5% of income in 2024 (BLS). An SSA study of 2014 income found about half of people 65+ got at least half their family income from Social Security, and about a quarter got 90% or more.
What is the average pension payout per month?
Among people 65+ with pension income, the 2025 median was $16,940 a year, about $1,412 a month. Federal government pensions had a median of about $2,708 a month, state and local about $2,044, military about $2,023, and private company or union pensions about $941.
Is $60,000 a good retirement income?
It is about the median for all households headed by someone 65+, so it puts a household in the middle. Whether it is enough depends on household size, housing costs and health spending. Households 65+ spent an average of $61,432 in 2024, according to BLS.
Are the official retirement income figures accurate?
They are probably low. A Census Bureau study that matched survey answers to tax records found median income for older households was 30% higher than the survey showed in 2012, mainly because people underreported pension and retirement-account income. The survey has since been redesigned, which narrowed but likely did not close that gap.
Cite This Page
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"Average Retirement Income: What Retirees Actually Live On, by Age, Household and Source." Wealthy Pot, 2026. https://wealthypot.com/average-retirement-income/
