disposable income

noun

: income that is left after paying taxes and for things that are essential, such as food and housing

I don't have enough disposable income to buy such luxuries.

Examples of disposable income in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

New technologies made chores easier, freeing up couples’ time, and growing wages gave people more disposable income. —Faith Hill, The Atlantic, 19 Mar. 2024

There is no reason why some of our disposable income shouldn’t go into startup and scaleup companies. —Trevor Clawson, Forbes, 24 Feb. 2024

Blaming inflation only on Biden doesn’t take into account the full economic picture, and the administration says disposable income is up. —Journal Sentinel, 21 Feb. 2024

But much of the gains are from investments that climbed alongside stock markets and largely don’t translate into disposable income. —Brian Cheung, NBC News, 18 Feb. 2024

Overall, real disposable income, or what Americans are left with after taxes and inflation, rose about 10 percent between January 2017 and January 2020. —Abha Bhattarai, Washington Post, 23 Dec. 2023

And in this note, Ryan wrote that rent as a share of disposable income among 25- to 34-year-olds was 40.5% as of the fourth quarter of last year, dipping from a peak of 41.6%. —Alena Botros, Fortune, 26 Mar. 2024

After a seven-year hiatus, the four-piece reunited in 2021, just as its original fans were coming into the disposable income of their 30s. —Chris Kelly, Washington Post, 12 Dec. 2023

Now the primary users are from Gen Z, a younger — and smaller — demographic with less disposable income. —J. Edward Moreno, New York Times, 12 Mar. 2024

Legal Definition

disposable income

noun

dis·​pos·​able income

: income available for disposal: as

a

: the income remaining to an individual after deduction of taxes

b

: the income of a debtor in bankruptcy that is not necessary to support the debtor or the debtor's dependents