page_title: Income inequality in the United States
section_title: Reasons for relative performance
hierarchical_section_title: Income inequality in the United States / International comparisons / Reasons for relative performance
caption_attribution_description: English: Share of income of the top 1% for selected developed countries
context_page_description: Income inequality in the United States is the extent to which income is distributed in an uneven manner among the American population. It has fluctuated considerably since measurements began around 1915, moving in an arc between peaks in the 1920s and 2000s, with a 30-year period of relatively lower inequality between 1950–1980.
  The U.S. has the highest level of income inequality among its industrialized peers. When measured for all households, U.S. income inequality is comparable to other developed countries before taxes and transfers, but is among the highest after taxes and transfers, meaning the U.S. shifts relatively less income from higher income households to lower income households. In 2016, average market income was $15,600 for the lowest quintile and $280,300 for the highest quintile. The degree of inequality accelerated within the top quintile, with the top 1% at $1.8 million, approximately 30 times the $59,300 income of the middle quintile.
context_section_description: One 2013 study indicated that US market income inequality was comparable to other developed countries, but was the highest among 22 developed countries after taxes and transfers. This implies that public policy choices, rather than market factors, drive U.S. income inequality disparities relative to other developed nations.
  Inequality may be higher than official statistics indicate in some countries because of unreported income. Europeans hold higher amounts of wealth offshore than Americans.
  Leonhardt and Quealy in 2014 described three key reasons for other industrialized countries improving real median income relative to the US over the 2000-2010 period. In the US:
  educational attainment has risen more slowly;
  companies pay relatively lower wages to the middle class and poor, with top executives making relatively more;
  government redistributes less from rich to poor.
  As of 2012 the U.S. had the weakest social safety net among developed nations.
caption: Share of income of the top 1% for selected developed countries, 1975 to 2015.
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