The mean (average) and median (middle value) are both ways to describe a "typical" value, but they can tell very different stories.
A Simple Example
Imagine a room with 10 people. Nine earn $50,000 per year, and one earns $5,000,000. The mean income is $545,000—but that describes no one in the room. The median income is $50,000, which describes 9 out of 10 people.
Why We Use Median
Income and wealth in America are highly skewed. A small number of very high earners pull the average up, making it unrepresentative of typical households. The median gives a more accurate picture of what ordinary families experience.
In Our Metrics
When we track "Purchasing Power of the Median Paycheck," we're looking at the worker in the middle of the income distribution. This person is more representative of the typical American worker than any average would be.