In May 2026, the disposable personal income in the United States increased by percent from the previous month. The data are in current U.S. dollars, seasonally adjusted at annual rates.Â
Disposable personal income in the United States
According to the BEA, personal income is the income that is received by persons from all sources. It is calculated as the sum of wage and salary disbursements, supplements to wages and salaries, proprietors' income with inventory valuation and capital consumption adjustments, rental income of persons with capital consumption adjustment, personal dividend income, personal interest income, and personal current transfer receipts, minus contributions for government social insurance. In simple terms, disposable personal income is the total remaining income after taxes paid; it is the income available to persons for spending or saving. It is useful to economists because it measures the amount of money available for spending in a specific area.
Disposable personal income is a significant indicator of an economy’s health. Personal income determines an individual’s ability to consume goods and services, i.e. personal consumption expenditure, and industries producing consumer goods and services contribute heavily to United States gross domestic product. The retail trade industry, for example, contributed trillion chained U.S. dollars to the GDP of the United States in 2021. Total real GDP amounted to about trillion U.S. dollars that year. The arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation and food services industry contributed billion U.S. dollars to the GDP in 2021.