Why median income figures disagree

Look up the “median income” for Travis County, Texas, home to Austin, and you can find anything from about $68,000 to $134,000. All of those are official. Median income figures disagree because they count different groups: households, families or individuals. They also come from different surveys and years, and some are averages, not medians.

One county, five official numbers

We pulled these from the Census Bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey and HUD’s 2026 income limits. The rest of this page explains why they spread so far.

What’s the difference between household and family income?

A household is everyone living in one home, including someone living alone. A family is two or more related people living together.

Family income runs higher mainly because the household figure also counts everyone living alone or with roommates, and their median is much lower. Nationally, the 2025 Census figures put the median household at $87,460 and the median family household at $112,900.

Why is “per capita” so different again?

Per capita income is total income divided by every person, children included. So it runs well below household income. It’s also an average, not a median, so a few very high earners pull it up.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis publishes its own per-person figure, which counts things the Census doesn’t, like employer health insurance contributions. For Travis County in 2024 it was $98,944, well above the Census per-person number.

Why does HUD’s number matter?

HUD’s “area median income” decides who qualifies for many housing programs, including income-restricted apartments. It starts from Census family incomes for a whole metro area, then raises them to allow for wage growth since the survey. So it’s higher than the household figure most people quote. For 2026, the national figure is $106,800.

If a listing says “for households under 80% of AMI,” that’s HUD’s number, adjusted for household size. It is not the median you see on a neighborhood stats page.

Why do the national numbers differ by survey?

The Census publishes income figures from two main surveys. Its yearly income report uses one that asks far more detailed income questions of about 100,000 addresses. The American Community Survey asks fewer questions of about 3 million. The Census recommends the first for national figures and the second for anywhere smaller.

They also cover slightly different periods, so they never match exactly. As of mid-October 2026, the newest figures from the two surveys were a year apart. That gap opens and closes as each survey publishes.

Should I use 1-year or 5-year figures?

The American Community Survey publishes both. One-year figures exist only for places with 65,000 or more people. Five-year figures pool five years of answers and cover every neighborhood.

The Census’s own advice is to use 1-year figures when being current matters most, and 5-year when you need precision or a small area. For a single neighborhood, 5-year is the only option.

How reliable is a neighborhood’s figure?

Less than it looks. Every survey figure has a margin of error, and for small areas it can be wide. Take Travis County’s latest five-year figures, for 2020 to 2024. We found the typical neighborhood’s median household income carries a margin of error of about 23% either way. A neighborhood listed at $90,000 could plausibly be anywhere from about $70,000 to $110,000, and the Census only claims 90% confidence in that range.

So two neighborhoods $10,000 apart may not really differ at all. Keep that in mind when you compare them on the income layer.

What does our map show?

Our income layer shows Census median household income for each neighborhood-sized tract. Where a tract’s own figure is too uncertain, it shows the county’s median instead, as long as that falls within the tract’s margin of error. Tracts the Census doesn’t publish a figure for are left out rather than guessed.

How do I compare places fairly?

• Compare the same measure everywhere. Household against household, never household against family.
• Use the same source and year for every place on your list.
• For neighborhoods, use 5-year figures and look at the margin of error.
• For housing program eligibility, use HUD’s figures, not Census medians.

If you want to see median household income by neighborhood, the income layer is on the map.