Having grown up in a relatively well-off community, having gone to college, and having specifically gone to college at a school where America’s upper class is disproportionately represented, I sometimes forget how different the population with which I’ve interacted has been from the population at large—both in America and globally. Specifically, I’ve found my perceptions of what constitutes a normal income can become easily warped, something I suspect is true for a fair number of people with time available to read this blog.
So, since I was looking up the household income distribution in the United States, I figured I’d share it here.
I found data from the 2018 Annual Social and Economic Supplement of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey. Which means the data is from 2017 (though I’d imagine it’s still fairly close to the current state of things). If you want to check out more of their data, here’s a link.
Here’s how it breaks down, roughly:
If your household income is more than $15,000, it’s larger than that of 10% of American households.
If your household income is more than $25,000, it’s larger than that of 20% of American households.
If your household income is more than $36,000, it’s larger than that of 30% of American households.
If your household income is more than $48,000, it’s larger than that of 40% of American households.
If your household income is more than $62,000, it’s larger than that of 50% of American households.
If your household income is more than $79,000, it’s larger than that of 60% of American households.
If your household income is more than $98,000, it’s larger than that of 70% of American households.
If your household income is more than $129,000, it’s larger than that of 80% of American households.
If your household income is more than $175,000, it’s larger than that of 90% of American households.
Globally, of course, the picture is much different. In 2013, Gallup reported that the worldwide median household income was close to $10,000, meaning that 50% of households were making less than $10,000 in 2013 and 50% were making more than $10,000. While this has probably increased to an extent since then—generally, income has increased since the Industrial Revolution, though the pace of the increase has differed across populations and there are large groups of people who have been or are exceptions to that trend—it’s doubtful it’s increased by so much that it’s more than a fifth of the American median. Which, extrapolated, implies that if your household income is more than $36,000, it’s probably larger than that of at least 90% of households worldwide.
Just some perspective.
