---
title: This Chart Shows How Much the Average American Earns at Every Age. See How You Stack Up
description: Your earnings may peak earlier than you think.
authors:
  - name: Shaina Mishkin
    url: https://money.com/author/shaina-mishkin/
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published: '2018-10-04T18:46:14.000Z'
modified: '2019-08-16T18:34:25.000Z'
section: Personal Finance
tags:
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![Business people talking, meeting at office cubicle](https://img.money.com/2018/10/181004-earnings-at-every-age1.jpg)

Ever wonder if you make more money than the average American your age?

The average full-time worker's salary was $44,720 for 2017, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But that lumps all American workers together.

Young workers make far less than others -- just $28,000 for those between the ages of 20 and 24. But as their skills improve, they can usually count on steep raises, with salaries increasing roughly 80% during their first two decades in the workforce, the BLS data show.

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By early middle age – from ages 35 to 44 – the typical American earns just over $50,000. After that, however, the pay hikes start to taper off, with median incomes increasing just 1.3% for those in their late 40s and early 50s.

After age 55, the median salary starts to tick down, landing at just over $47,000 for those age 65 and older.

While women's wages start out similar to men's, that gap widens in the decades that follow: Male workers between the ages of 25 and 34 see average salaries of about $43,000, about $5,000 higher than for female workers.

That wage difference reaches its peak – amounting to roughly $13,000 a year-- for workers between the ages of 45 and 54.

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