United States | Income share held by highest 10%

Percentage share of income or consumption is the share that accrues to subgroups of population indicated by deciles or quintiles. Development relevance: The World Bank Group's goal of promoting shared prosperity has been defined as fostering income growth of the bottom 40 per cent of the welfare distribution in every country. Income distribution measures are important background indicators for shared prosperity. Limitations and exceptions: Despite progress in the last decade, the challenges of measuring poverty remain. The timeliness, frequency, quality, and comparability of household surveys need to increase substantially, particularly in the poorest countries. The availability and quality of poverty monitoring data remains low in small states, countries with fragile situations, and low-income countries and even some middle-income countries. The low frequency and lack of comparability of the data available in some countries create uncertainty over the magnitude of poverty reduction. Besides the frequency and timeliness of survey data, other data quality issues arise in measuring household living standards. The surveys ask detailed questions on sources of income and how it was spent, which must be carefully recorded by trained personnel. Income is generally more difficult to measure accurately, and consumption comes closer to the notion of living standards. And income can vary over time even if living standards do not. But consumption data are not always available: the latest estimates reported here use consumption data for about two-thirds of countries. However, even similar surveys may not be strictly comparable because of differences in timing or in the quality and training of enumerators. Comparisons of countries at different levels of development also pose a potential problem because of differences in the relative importance of the consumption of nonmarket goods. The local market value of all consumption in kind (including own production, particularly important in underdeveloped rural economies) should be included in total consumption expenditure but may not be. Most survey data now include valuations for consumption or income from own production, but valuation methods vary. Statistical concept and methodology: Inequality in the distribution of income is reflected in the share of income or consumption accruing to a portion of the population ranked by income or consumption levels. The portions ranked lowest by personal income receive the smallest shares of total income. Data on the distribution of income or consumption come from nationally representative household surveys. Where the original data from the household survey were available, they have been used to directly calculate the income or consumption shares by quintile. Otherwise, shares have been estimated from the best available grouped data. The distribution data have been adjusted for household size, providing a more consistent measure of per capita income or consumption. The year reflects the year in which the underlying household survey data were collected or, when the data collection period bridged two calendar years, the year data collection started.
Publisher
The World Bank
Origin
United States of America
Records
63
Source
United States | Income share held by highest 10%
1960
1961
1962
1963 27.3
1964 27.8
1965 27.2
1966 27.2
1967 26.8
1968 26.5
1969 26.3
1970 26.6
1971 27
1972 26.5
1973 26.2
1974 25.7
1975 25.8
1976 25.7
1977 26
1978 25.2
1979 25.3
1980 25.2
1981 25.7
1982 26.3
1983 26.6
1984 26.6
1985 27
1986 26.8
1987 26.5
1988 27.1
1989 27.7
1990 27.6
1991 27.5
1992 27.7
1993 29.7
1994 29.6
1995 29.7
1996 30
1997 30.4
1998 29.7
1999 29.9
2000 30.3
2001 30.6
2002 30.1
2003 30.2
2004 30.1
2005 30.8
2006 31.2
2007 30.4
2008 30.3
2009 30.4
2010 29.3
2011 30.2
2012 30.2
2013 30
2014 30.7
2015 30.5
2016 30.4
2017 30.3
2018 30.7
2019 30.8
2020 29.5
2021 30.1
2022

United States | Income share held by highest 10%

Percentage share of income or consumption is the share that accrues to subgroups of population indicated by deciles or quintiles. Development relevance: The World Bank Group's goal of promoting shared prosperity has been defined as fostering income growth of the bottom 40 per cent of the welfare distribution in every country. Income distribution measures are important background indicators for shared prosperity. Limitations and exceptions: Despite progress in the last decade, the challenges of measuring poverty remain. The timeliness, frequency, quality, and comparability of household surveys need to increase substantially, particularly in the poorest countries. The availability and quality of poverty monitoring data remains low in small states, countries with fragile situations, and low-income countries and even some middle-income countries. The low frequency and lack of comparability of the data available in some countries create uncertainty over the magnitude of poverty reduction. Besides the frequency and timeliness of survey data, other data quality issues arise in measuring household living standards. The surveys ask detailed questions on sources of income and how it was spent, which must be carefully recorded by trained personnel. Income is generally more difficult to measure accurately, and consumption comes closer to the notion of living standards. And income can vary over time even if living standards do not. But consumption data are not always available: the latest estimates reported here use consumption data for about two-thirds of countries. However, even similar surveys may not be strictly comparable because of differences in timing or in the quality and training of enumerators. Comparisons of countries at different levels of development also pose a potential problem because of differences in the relative importance of the consumption of nonmarket goods. The local market value of all consumption in kind (including own production, particularly important in underdeveloped rural economies) should be included in total consumption expenditure but may not be. Most survey data now include valuations for consumption or income from own production, but valuation methods vary. Statistical concept and methodology: Inequality in the distribution of income is reflected in the share of income or consumption accruing to a portion of the population ranked by income or consumption levels. The portions ranked lowest by personal income receive the smallest shares of total income. Data on the distribution of income or consumption come from nationally representative household surveys. Where the original data from the household survey were available, they have been used to directly calculate the income or consumption shares by quintile. Otherwise, shares have been estimated from the best available grouped data. The distribution data have been adjusted for household size, providing a more consistent measure of per capita income or consumption. The year reflects the year in which the underlying household survey data were collected or, when the data collection period bridged two calendar years, the year data collection started.
Publisher
The World Bank
Origin
United States of America
Records
63
Source