real income

American  

[ree-uhl, reel] / ˈri əl, ril /

noun

1. the amount of goods and services that money income will buy.

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real income Cultural  

1. Income measured in terms of the goods and services it can buy.

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Etymology

Origin of real income

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

real income

A study by financial advising company SmartAsset of the 94 largest population centers in the U.S. looked at real income growth in 2024, and the Orange County neighborhoods were in the top 15.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

“The U.S. consumer has shown an impressive determination to keep shopping throughout the tariff and oil price shocks, cutting savings as real income growth turned negative,” said Paul Donovan, chief economist at UBS Wealth Management.

From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026

The economist expects households’ real income to deteriorate further as inflation worsens, driven by supply shortages.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 8, 2026

From 1962 to 2024, males between ages 25 and 44 saw real income growth of around 45%.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2025

A lot of the men here were trying some mining out on the west Flat; their findings had so far been small but they brought the only real income the planet had so far yielded.

From Warlord of Kor by Terry Gene Carr