Personal Income
Personal income measures the total pre-tax income Americans receive from all sources — wages and salaries, proprietors' and rental income, interest and dividends, and government transfers like Social Security and unemployment insurance. Reported monthly by the BEA, it is the foundation of spending capacity.
Latest reading
As of April 2026, Personal Income (Personal Income YoY %) stands at 2.5% — down from 3.7% the prior reading. Income growth underwrites consumer spending and GDP; rapid gains can also feed demand-pull inflation if they outrun productivity. Use the year-over-year rate to smooth monthly volatility — above 5% is strong, below 1% is a concern. Watch for transfer-payment spikes (stimulus, expanded benefits) that can distort the headline, and adjust for inflation to see real purchasing power. Series history runs from 1993 to present.
Personal Income YoY %
Next release: Jun 25, 2026
Full history
How to read it
Income growth underwrites consumer spending and GDP; rapid gains can also feed demand-pull inflation if they outrun productivity. Use the year-over-year rate to smooth monthly volatility — above 5% is strong, below 1% is a concern. Watch for transfer-payment spikes (stimulus, expanded benefits) that can distort the headline, and adjust for inflation to see real purchasing power.
Methodology & data
Personal Income is sourced from BEA via the Federal Reserve's FRED service (BEA via FRED (PI), monthly, seasonally adjusted annual rate). We pull the complete history, chart it on a monthly basis, overlay SPY for context, and generate a dated plain-English reading from the latest release — with no smoothing or adjustment beyond what the chart legend states.
Every reading is stamped with its release date, last updated 2026-06-09. See our methodology for the standards every series on the site is held to.
- Category
- Growth
- Frequency
- Monthly
- Source
- BEA
Related indicators
Frequently asked questions
What is the Personal Income?
Personal income measures the total pre-tax income Americans receive from all sources — wages and salaries, proprietors' and rental income, interest and dividends, and government transfers like Social Security and unemployment insurance. Reported monthly by the BEA, it is the foundation of spending capacity.
How do you read Personal Income?
Income growth underwrites consumer spending and GDP; rapid gains can also feed demand-pull inflation if they outrun productivity. Use the year-over-year rate to smooth monthly volatility — above 5% is strong, below 1% is a concern. Watch for transfer-payment spikes (stimulus, expanded benefits) that can distort the headline, and adjust for inflation to see real purchasing power.
Where does the Personal Income data come from?
BEA via FRED (PI), monthly, seasonally adjusted annual rate. We chart the full history and publish a dated, plain-English reading with every release; the raw series is downloadable as CSV at /data/indicators/personal-income.csv.
How often is Personal Income updated?
Personal Income is a monthly series from BEA, refreshed here as soon as a new release posts to FRED.