The average US salary is under $30,000?
Don’t quibble when the soak the rich crowd is on a roll.
"Average salary" tells very little - it's badly by influenced by very young and older people who are either making minimum wage, or cashing out comfortably before retirement.
Median income is what really matters; that reflects "the masses" of people, largely folks in mid-life who need money much more immediately.
I don't where they got that number from.
In 2006, the median annual household income according to the US Census Bureau was determined to be $48,201.
http://pubdb3.census.gov/macro/032007/hhinc/new04_001.htm