# Median Income

*Everyday Money — Finicade finance glossary*

Median income is the level where half of earners are above and half below — the middle of the distribution rather than the average. It's the honest headline for 'typical' pay because income distributions have a long right tail: a handful of very high earners pull the mean well above what most people experience. When mean income grows faster than median income, the gains are concentrating at the top, which is why the gap between the two is itself an inequality signal.

**Also known as:** median household income, median wage

**Related terms:** [Household Income](https://finicade.com/glossary/household-income), [Mean, Median and Mode](https://finicade.com/glossary/mean-median-mode), [Real Wages](https://finicade.com/glossary/real-wages), [Gini Coefficient](https://finicade.com/glossary/gini-coefficient)

Source: https://finicade.com/glossary/median-income