Median household income in Ireland eclipses €60,000 for first time – The Irish Times

The median household income in Ireland has eclipsed €60,000 for the first time.

Figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) indicate that the median (or middle value) household disposable income in Ireland last year rose by 4.7 per cent (€2,744) to €61,666.

Statisticians prefer to use median values over average ones as the latter are skewed by the extremes.

When adjusted for inflation the increase in real household income was 2.4 per cent.

The CSO’s latest Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) indicated that while household income increased, the proportion of people at risk of poverty also rose in 2025 to 12.6 per cent compared with 11.7 per cent in 2024.

“If cost-of-living measures such as energy credits or increased/additional social welfare payments paid to eligible households in 2024 were excluded, the at risk of poverty rate would have been higher (14.9 per cent),” the agency said.

Being at risk of poverty refers to households with disposable income (after-tax income) of less than 60 per cent of the national median, meaning they cannot afford what is considered a normal standard of living.

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The consistent poverty rate, those people who are both at risk of poverty and experiencing enforced deprivation, was 4.7 per cent in 2025, compared with 5 per cent in 2024 and 3.6 per cent in 2023.

The CSO’s data set also indicated that the richest 20 per cent of the population commanded 36.9 per cent of disposable income while the poorest 20 per cent accounted for just 9.4 per cent.

The 10 per cent of households with the lowest disposable income had an average nominal disposable income of €329 per week, compared with €3,496 per week for the 10 per cent of households with the highest disposable income.

Another measure of poverty is the enforced deprivation rate, which measures the percentage of households that cannot afford at least two of 11 basic goods, services and/or activities.

In 2025, 15.1 per cent of the State’s population were defined as living in enforced deprivation, down from 15.7 per cent in 2024 and 17.3 per cent in 2023.

“Looking at the overlap of these measures shows that the consistent poverty rate, those at risk of poverty and in enforced deprivation, decreased in the year,” the CSO said.

“The release also highlights the higher incidence of the risk of poverty among certain groups such as people unable to work due to long-standing health problems; the unemployed; single-adult households; and those in rented accommodation,” it said.