Charlotte among top US cities that’re making more money than last year, says new report

(NEXSTAR) – How much money you bring in varies drastically depending on where you live in the U.S., and while the cost of living continues to rise across the country, the amount of income being earned nationwide is slowly rising as well.

According to a new study from SmartAsset, residents in the U.S. saw a 1.3% increase in household income from last year, with the average household bringing in roughly $83,730 a year.

Some cities in particular saw a much larger increase year over year than the rest of the country. To find which cities stood out, SmartAsset examined the latest U.S. Census Bureau data and examined what the median household income was for American residents living in the 50 largest U.S. cities in 2023 and 2024.

Tampa, FL landed at the top of the list with a 15.46% increase in household income, going from the average income being $72,851 to now being $84,114.

After Tampa, three California cities were listed with Long Beach, San Francisco, and Fresno all seeing between a 10-11% increase in household income.

Here are the 15 cities that are seeing more income year over year than the rest of the country, according to SmartAsset.

Rank	City	Change in household income	Household income, 2024	Household income, 2023
1	Tampa, FL	15.46%	$84,114	$72,851
2	Long Beach, CA	11.90%	$91,318	$81,606
3	San Francisco, CA	10.31%	$139,801	$126,730
4	Fresno, CA	10.19%	$74,491	$67,603
5	Louisville, KY	9.37%	$67,251	$61,488
6	San Jose, CA	8.81%	$148,226	$136,229
7	Baltimore, MD	8.73%	$64,778	$59,579
8	Tucson, AZ	8.57%	$60,483	$55,708
9	Chicago, IL	8.24%	$80,613	$74,474
10	Mesa, AZ	8.13%	$85,580	$79,145
11	Columbus, OH	7.59%	$67,084	$62,350
12	Arlington, TX	7.48%	$74,388	$69,208
13	Kansas City, MO	7.26%	$69,958	$65,225
14	Charlotte, NC	7.24%	$86,416	$80,581
15	Tulsa, OK	7.23%	$60,930	$56,821

On the other end of the spectrum, several cities are actually making less money year over year.

Minneapolis, MN ranks as the major city with the largest difference in household income, seeing 4.04% less money year over year, with Miami, FL, not far behind, making 3.35% less income.

Here’s the full list of cities seeing less money on average, according to SmartAsset.

Rank	City	Change in household income	Household income, 2024	Household income, 2023
50	Minneapolis, MN	-4.04%	$77,732	$81,001
49	Miami, FL	-3.35%	$66,337	$68,635
48	Denver, CO	-1.76%	$92,504	$94,157
47	Seattle, WA	-1.54%	$118,745	$120,608
46	Raleigh, NC	-1.45%	$85,060	$86,309
45	Austin, TX	-1.17%	$90,430	$91,501
44	Nashville, TN	-0.16%	$80,090	$80,217

To see the full list of cities, check out SmartAsset’s study on their website.