page_title: Income inequality in the United States
section_title: Measurement
hierarchical_section_title: Income inequality in the United States / Measurement
caption_attribution_description: English: U.S. family pre-tax income and net worth distribution for 2013 and 2016, from the Survey of Consumer Finances by the US Federal Reserve Board.
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: Various methods measure income inequality. Different sources prefer Gini coefficients or ratio of percentiles, etc. Census Bureau studies on household and individual income show lower levels than some other sources, but do not break out the highest-income households (99%+) where most change has occurred.
  One review describes six possible techniques for estimating American real median income growth. Estimates for the 1979-2014 period ranged from a decline of 8% (Piketty and Saez 2003) to an increase of 51% (CBO).
  Two commonly cited estimates are the CBO and Emmanuel Saez. These differ in their sources and methods. Using IRS data for 2011 Saez claimed that the share of "market income less transfers" received by the top 1% was about 19.5%. The CBO uses both IRS data and Census data in its computations and reported a lower "pre-tax" figure for the top 1% of 14.6%.
caption: U.S. family pre-tax income and net worth distribution for 2013 and 2016, from the Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances.[222]
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