US household income distribution

Chart and statistics of us household incomes from 1967 to 2008, in current and constant dollars, and as indexes for 1967=100. Lowest fifth mean income grew from 8,220 constant us$ in 1967 to 11,656 in 2008 at an annual average rate of 0.9%. The median income grew from 36,360 in 1967 to 50,30 in 2008 at an annual average rate of 0.8%, and the top 5% mean income grew from 144,421 in 1967 to 294,709 in 2008 at a rate of 1.8%.

US high incomes took off in 1985, starting the irresistible ascent that led to the current chasm between highest and lowest household incomes, leaving the median and the lowest fifth incomes on the ground. In other words, significant income growth has been grabbed by the very highest incomes, and the lower 50% of the households in terms of income did not make much progress. Two stages can be identified.

1967-1985. The lowest fifth mean income went from 8,220 to 9,891 constant US$, at an annual average growth rate of 1%. The median income, progressed from 36,360 to 41,610, at an average rate of 0.8%. The top 5% mean income grew from 144,421 to 180,325, a significant increase in absolute terms, but less so in relative terms – an average rate of 1.2%. This is a stage of relative parity.
1985-2008. The top 5% mean income, growing at an average rate of 2.2% gained 114,384 US$, reaching the 294,709 mark. Meanwhile, the lowest fifth progressed at only 0.7%, with a gain of 1,765 US$, and the median income grew by 0.8% annually, gaining 8,693.

Household incomes are influenced by a "positive feedback" factor that gives the top 5% the gift of a double reward: a bigger calculation base and a higher growth rate, while lower incomes are given a double jeopardy: a smaller base and a lower rate.

Growth of Mean Household Income¹ (USA 1967 - 2008)
Year	Lowest fifth	Median²	Top 5%	Lowest fifth	Median	Top 5%	Lowest fifth	Median	Top 5%
Year	(current US$)			(constant³ 2008 US$)			(index 1967=100)
1967	1,600	7,077	28,110	8,220	36,360	144,421	100	100	100
1968	1,806	7,680	28,461	8,901	37,850	140,266	108	104	97
1969	1,932	8,335	31,585	9,074	39,145	148,337	110	108	103
1970	1,992	8,689	33,281	8,887	38,763	148,473	108	107	103
1971	2,092	8,965	34,638	8,888	38,090	147,168	108	105	102
1972	2,283	9,624	38,447	9,299	39,200	156,599	113	108	108
1973	2,539	10,471	41,516	9,798	40,407	160,208	119	111	111
1974	2,783	11,147	43,355	9,846	39,436	153,381	120	108	106
1975	2,909	11,724	45,644	9,403	37,895	147,531	114	104	102
1976	3,152	12,691	49,700	9,635	38,794	151,923	117	107	105
1977	3,335	13,579	54,277	9,584	39,021	155,973	117	107	108
1978	3,685	14,943	59,486	9,895	40,125	159,733	120	110	111
1979	4,006	16,428	65,984	9,931	40,725	163,574	121	112	113
1980	4,310	17,710	69,484	9,792	40,234	157,857	119	111	109
1981	4,602	19,074	75,144	9,559	39,621	156,091	116	109	108
1982	4,790	20,171	82,697	9,378	39,490	161,900	114	109	112
1983	5,053	20,885	87,359	9,516	39,332	164,522	116	108	114
1984	5,436	22,415	93,774	9,867	40,686	170,212	120	112	118
1985	5,614	23,618	102,354	9,891	41,610	180,325	120	114	125
1986	5,774	24,897	111,024	9,953	42,914	191,369	121	118	133
1987	6,132	26,061	118,000	10,271	43,654	197,656	125	120	137
1988	6,465	27,225	124,215	10,470	44,089	201,159	127	121	139
1989	6,994	28,906	138,185	10,914	45,108	215,638	133	124	149
1990	7,166	29,943	138,756	10,767	44,990	208,483	131	124	144
1991	7,226	30,126	137,530	10,486	43,715	199,568	128	120	138
1992	7,256	30,636	144,608	10,285	43,426	204,977	125	119	142
1993	7,359	31,241	173,784	10,206	43,326	241,008	124	119	167
1994	7,714	32,264	183,044	10,477	43,821	248,612	127	121	172
1995	8,345	34,076	188,828	11,103	45,338	251,234	135	125	174
1996	8,595	35,492	201,220	11,222	46,340	262,721	137	127	182
1997	8,839	37,005	215,436	11,340	47,477	276,402	138	131	191
1998	9,223	38,885	222,283	11,701	49,331	281,998	142	136	195
1999	9,915	40,696	235,077	12,396	50,881	293,909	151	140	204
2000	10,157	41,990	252,400	12,430	51,386	308,878	151	141	214
2001	10,136	42,228	260,464	12,130	50,535	311,703	148	139	216
2002	9,990	42,409	251,010	11,765	49,943	295,603	143	137	205
2003	9,996	43,318	253,239	11,524	49,939	291,946	140	137	202
2004	10,244	44,334	263,896	11,484	49,700	295,838	140	137	205
2005	10,655	46,326	281,155	11,559	50,256	305,005	141	138	211
2006	11,352	48,201	297,405	11,927	50,641	312,457	145	139	216
2007	11,551	50,233	287,191	11,798	51,306	293,326	144	141	203
2008	11,656	50,303	294,709	11,656	50,303	294,709	142	138	204
Average annual growth rate	5.0%	4.9%	5.9%	0.9%	0.8%	1.8%	0.9%	0.8%	1.8%
¹ Mean household income is obtained by dividing total household income by the total number of households. Income includes wage or salary, self-employment income, interest, dividends, or net rental income, social security, public assistance, retirement and other income such as unemployment compensation, alimony, etc.
² Median income values provided by US Census cover the period 1980-2008. For the period 1967-1979 areppim used mean household income values for third fifth, i.e. 40%-60% interval, from the same source.
³ Adjusted for inflation using the Implicit Price Deflators for GDP.

Sources: see US Census Bureau (Mean Household Income Received by Each Fifth and Top 5 Percent; Household by Number of Earners by Median and Mean Income), and BEA - US Bureau of Economic Analysis (Implicit Price Deflators for Gross Domestic Product 1929-2008).

areppim: information, pure and simple

Growth of Mean Household Income¹(USA 1967 - 2008)

Year

Lowest fifth

Median²

Top 5%

Lowest fifth

Median

Top 5%

Lowest fifth

Median

Top 5%

Growth of Mean Household Income¹
(USA 1967 - 2008)