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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteThere is no single reliable dollar figure for how much the “average American” pays in taxes. The answer depends on whether you mean a person or household, which year you are measuring, and whether you count only federal taxes or also state and local income, sales, property, and excise taxes. Current official data provide useful federal tax rates and tax shares, but they do not establish one up-to-date total for all taxes paid by the average U.S. person or household.
What the latest federal tax data show
The Congressional Budget Office’s September 2026 analysis covers federal taxes through 2023. It reports how the federal tax burden was distributed among households, rather than one average dollar bill for every American.
- Households in the top income quintile paid 70% of federal taxes in 2023; the top 1% paid 26% of federal taxes.
- The average federal individual income tax rate ranged from −11% for the lowest income quintile to 16% for the highest in 2023. A negative average can reflect refundable tax credits; it does not mean every household in that group received a payment.
These figures describe different things: the 70% and 26% figures are shares of all federal taxes, while −11% to 16% are average individual income tax rates. Neither is a dollar amount, and neither includes a complete tally of state and local taxes. See the CBO’s 2026 federal tax distribution analysis.
Why the Census median income is not an average tax bill
The Census Bureau reported median U.S. household money income of $83,730 for 2024. This is pretax income, not the amount households paid in taxes. It is also a median—the midpoint at which half of households had higher income and half had lower income—not an arithmetic average.
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Census also reports a separate post-tax income measure, which accounts for federal and state taxes, payroll taxes, and credits. Those measures use different definitions, so multiplying the $83,730 pretax median by a tax rate from another dataset would not produce an official average tax bill. See the Census Bureau’s 2025 report on income for 2024.
What a combined federal, state, and local estimate looks like
For an illustration of how much the total can vary across income groups, the Tax Foundation estimated the following 2019 household tax burdens. Its modeled estimates include federal, state, and local taxes, as well as taxes on economic activity underwritten by transfer payments.
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| Household income group | Estimated taxes per household in 2019 |
|---|---|
| Bottom quintile | $5,524 |
| Middle quintile | $24,451 |
| Top quintile | $125,748 |
These are older modeled household estimates, not a current national average or an amount per person. The analysis is useful for showing why one average can obscure large differences by income; its figures should not be treated as a current tax bill. See the Tax Foundation’s analysis of 2019 federal, state, and local tax burdens.
Which taxes belong in a household’s total?
A person’s or household’s total depends on what the calculation counts. Federal income tax is only one part: payroll taxes and state and local taxes can also matter. State and local income, sales, property, and excise taxes vary with location and circumstances. A household-level figure may also reflect multiple earners, while an individual-level figure does not represent the same unit.
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The U.S. Department of the Treasury Office of Tax Analysis says, “Across the large majority of the income distribution, families pay more, on average, in payroll tax than any other Federal tax.” That statement refers to federal taxes under Treasury’s model; refundable credits are counted as negative taxes in its distribution tables. The tables are 2025 baseline estimates explained in 2024, not observed household payments for 2025. See the Treasury’s distributional analysis.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to compare a tax figure with your own
Before treating any published number as a benchmark for your household, check:
- Year: Is the figure for the current year, or an older tax year?
- Unit: Does it describe an individual, a household, or a tax return?
- Measure: Is it dollars paid, an average tax rate, or a group’s share of taxes collected?
- Income definition: What income is used as the denominator, and does it include or exclude transfers and tax credits?
- Tax scope: Does it include federal income and payroll taxes, plus state and local income, sales, property, and excise taxes?
- Location: Are the state and local taxes relevant to where you live?
These checks matter because a federal tax rate, a tax share, and a combined household dollar estimate are not interchangeable measures. Recent IRS statistics based on tax returns can provide information about individual returns, but return data do not capture every household’s property and consumption taxes.
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