United States | Income share held by third 20%
Percentage share of income or consumption is the share that accrues to subgroups of population indicated by deciles or quintiles. Percentage shares by quintile may not sum to 100 because of rounding. 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. Percentage shares by quintile may not sum to 100 because of rounding.
Publisher
The World Bank
Origin
United States of America
Records
63
Source
United States | Income share held by third 20%
1960
1961
1962
16.3 1963
16.1 1964
16.3 1965
16.3 1966
16.4 1967
16.5 1968
16.6 1969
16.5 1970
16.4 1971
16.6 1972
16.7 1973
16.8 1974
16.8 1975
16.8 1976
16.8 1977
17 1978
16.9 1979
17 1980
16.8 1981
16.6 1982
16.6 1983
16.5 1984
16.4 1985
16.5 1986
16.6 1987
16.4 1988
16.2 1989
16.2 1990
16.3 1991
16.2 1992
15.7 1993
15.7 1994
15.7 1995
15.5 1996
15.5 1997
15.7 1998
15.7 1999
15.6 2000
15.5 2001
15.6 2002
15.5 2003
15.7 2004
15.4 2005
15.4 2006
15.5 2007
15.5 2008
15.5 2009
15.7 2010
15.4 2011
15.4 2012
15.4 2013
15 2014
15.1 2015
15.3 2016
15.3 2017
15.3 2018
15.2 2019
15.6 2020
15.3 2021
2022
United States | Income share held by third 20%
Percentage share of income or consumption is the share that accrues to subgroups of population indicated by deciles or quintiles. Percentage shares by quintile may not sum to 100 because of rounding. 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. Percentage shares by quintile may not sum to 100 because of rounding.
Publisher
The World Bank
Origin
United States of America
Records
63
Source