I'm aware of stats, but maybe 12K is barely enough to dispose of for goals - such as going out, or buying presents to others, etc. (Saving rate is around 5%, which is less than 1K/year, that's nowhere near enough for anything. Though allegedly it's not calculated "properly".)

At the median they’re probably not paying for healthcare. Also national well being distribution is a place statistics fail. The median is just slightly more useful than talking about actual income levels and worker benefits. Either society finds a way to house, bathe, feed, and tend the basic healthcare needs of everyone or we really are not better than we were in the 1860s.