American Incomes Hit A Record High

WSJ What’s News

The WSJ What's News podcast episode covers a range of major economic and political developments, including record-high American household in

Key takeaways

• Median household income reached a record $87,500 in 2025, but gains were concentrated among higher-income earners, highlighting persistent economic inequality.
• Women and Black Americans saw notable income gains, partly due to strong job growth in female-dominated sectors like healthcare and AI-resistant roles.

Main topics

• Record U.S. household income data
• Economic inequality and the K-shaped recovery

Notable quotes

"The vast majority of job creation is in roles that are held by women. And so finally, I think we're starting to see that show up in the data." – Rachel Wolff, WSJ economics reporter

Conclusion

While American incomes hit a record high, the benefits were unevenly distributed, underscoring

Transcript preview

Speaker 3 (0:00) you Speaker 3 (0:03) Trump administration officials defend the president's policies to Congress. Plus, in a blow to the crypto industry, a landmark bill falls short during a procedural vote in the Senate. Speaker 2 (0:13) One of the biggest hurdles for the bill over the past few months has been the ethics language. And Speaker 3 (0:20) new census data show that American incomes reached a record last year. It's Tuesday, September 15th. I'm Alex Oseleff for The Wall Street Journal. This is the PM edition of What's News. the top headlines and business stories that move the world today. Congress is back in session, with the Senate returning yesterday from its summer recess, and two members of the Trump administration appeared before lawmakers today. FBI Director Kash Patel sat before the Senate Judiciary Committee for an oversight hearing today. Lawmakers grilled him on changes to the FBI hiring rules and the agency's role at poll sites for the midterms. Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent spoke to members of the House Financial Services Committee. Lawmakers grilled him on whether his recent intervention in the Treasury bond market worked. Bessent said that his intervention was successful because even though yields remain high, they might have climbed even higher without the Treasury Department's ramped-up buyback plan. Speaker 1 (1:19) The U.S. bond market, it continues during the past month, since President Trump has come in, it has been the best-performing bond market in the developed world. Speaker 3 (1:29) Besant was also asked about President Trump's plan to pay each adult citizen $5,000 if Republicans retain control of the House and Senate. He called Trump's plan, quote, very real. And this week's chatter on AI's existential threat also bled into questioning. Besant said the Treasury Department has been focused on AI safety since the limited release of Anthropic's Mythos models and that he hadn't yet seen any AI regulation he would support following the recent hugging face hack. Speaker 3 (2:00) The Pentagon spent about $38 billion in its first few months of the war with Iran, and it will need at least five years to replace the missile interceptors used in the conflict. That's according to the Congressional Budget Office, a nonpartisan congressional watchdog. It also estimated that the war is likely to cost an additional $2 to $3 billion a month as President Trump tries to figure out the next steps in the conflict. The Pentagon's chief spokesman said claims of U.S. munition shortages are false. And the board for the Kennedy Center voted today to immediately close the venue's main building for renovations. That's according to people familiar with the matter. And per court filings, the work is expected to take two years and cost $285 million. The board said that the building is in such disrepair that it's endangering visitors and employees, and that the consulting group hired for the renovation had recommended the closure. Trump said in a social media post afterwards that the venue will close immediately, but that the renovation can't begin until an