Health insurance premiums and deductibles rose faster than both inflation and wages in 2024, leaving the average American worker with health care costs of more than $11,000 against a median household income of $86,000.

These costs rose by 6.2 percent in 2024, outpacing both the 2.9 percent annual inflation and the median household income growth of 5.9 percent, according to a February report from the Commonwealth Fund.

“If these higher costs are combined with sluggish income growth, the cost of coverage and health care could take a larger bite out of workers’ incomes at a time when they are also dealing with higher prices for other household goods,” the report states.

More than half (53.8 percent) of the U.S. population got health insurance through an employer or a family member’s employer in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Employer-sponsored family health plan premiums averaged $24,540 in 2024, of which employers paid $17,325. Employees paid the rest, averaging $7,215 per household, according to data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

A person is considered underinsured when deductibles amount to more than 5 percent of household income, according to the Commonwealth Fund report. By that measure, the average individual worker in half of the U.S. states was underinsured in 2024.

Deductibles must be paid first before health insurance will cover most health care services. The average deductible cost reached over $4,000 for employee-sponsored family plans in 2024.

Large deductibles can deter workers from seeking care and increase the risk of medical debt, the report noted.

Expenses by State

Some southern states—including Louisiana, Florida, North Carolina, West Virginia, Nevada, and Oklahoma—face a health care affordability gap driven by low median earnings and high insurance expenses.

In Louisiana, with a median household income of $62,001 in 2024, working families spent some $8,600 on premiums and $3,910 on deductibles for a total of more than $12,000.

Workers in Florida and California paid more than $13,000 on these costs.

A peer‑reviewed analysis of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics suggests that high hospital prices are the main driver of rising premiums. Hospital prices have risen faster than both doctor fees and the cost of health insurance, according to a report published by the National Institutes of Health.

Prescription drug prices also contributed a significant amount to higher premiums in recent years, according to a 2025 report from health research group KFF.

Expanded coverage for new drugs, a rise in chronic illnesses, higher hospital prices, and increased patient volume also contributed.

Workers at companies with fewer than 200 workers face more deductibles than those at larger firms, according to KFF.

With no new strategies to curb cost drivers, employers are likely to lean on higher deductibles and increased employee cost-sharing, said Drew Altman, president and CEO of KFF.

This is “a strategy that neither employers nor employees like but companies resort to in a pinch to hold down premium increases,” Altman said in the report.