Economic inequality statistics show how income is divided across households and how that distribution changes after taxes and transfers. In the United States in 2024, the highest household-income quintile received 52.2% of aggregate money income, while the lowest received 3.1%. On a post-tax basis, those shares were 48.6% and 3.8%, respectively. The Census measures below distinguish money income, post-tax income, and equivalence-adjusted measures that account for household size.
Contents
- Pretax household income shares
- Pretax percentiles and inequality ratios
- Equivalence-adjusted income
- Post-tax household income
- Post-tax equivalence-adjusted income
- How taxes and transfers change inequality
Pretax household income shares
The Census Bureau’s Table A-3. Income Distribution Measures Using Money Income and Equivalence-Adjusted Income: 2023 and 2024 reports the 2024 distribution of U.S. household money income. Money income is the pretax household measure used in this comparison.
The lowest income quintile received 3.1% of aggregate household money income. The second quintile received 8.2%, and the middle quintile received 13.9%. The fourth quintile received 22.6%, while the highest quintile received 52.2%. Thus, the top fifth’s reported share was more than half of aggregate household money income, while the bottom fifth’s share was a small single-digit percentage.
The top 5% received 23.1% of aggregate U.S. household money income in 2024. That narrower group’s share was less than the 52.2% received by the entire highest quintile, but it still represented nearly one-quarter of aggregate money income.
| 2024 household group | Share of aggregate money income |
|---|---|
| Lowest income quintile | 3.1% |
| Second income quintile | 8.2% |
| Third income quintile | 13.9% |
| Fourth income quintile | 22.6% |
| Highest income quintile | 52.2% |
| Top 5% | 23.1% |
Source: Table A-3, Census Bureau, covering 2024 U.S. household money income.
Pretax percentiles and inequality ratios
Percentiles provide another way to describe the spread. The 10th percentile of U.S. household money income was $19,900 in 2024. The median was $83,730, and the 90th percentile was $251,000. These are household money-income thresholds for the specified points in the distribution, not measures of individual wages.
The money-income Gini index was 0.488 in 2024. The supplied Census table also reports a 90th-to-10th percentile ratio of 12.61, meaning the 90th-percentile household money income was 12.61 times the 10th-percentile amount. The 90th percentile was 3.00 times the median, while the median was 4.21 times the 10th-percentile income.
These ratios emphasize different parts of the distribution. The 90-to-10 ratio compares upper and lower endpoints represented here; the 90-to-median ratio focuses on the upper half relative to the center; and the median-to-10 ratio describes the distance between the center and lower endpoint. The Gini index summarizes the distribution using a separate inequality measure, so it should not be read as another percentile ratio.
Equivalence-adjusted income
Household size affects how far a given income can go. The Census Bureau therefore also reports equivalence-adjusted income measures. In the same 2024 U.S. table, the lowest equivalence-adjusted income quintile received 3.5% of aggregate income. The second quintile received 9.0%, the third 14.6%, and the fourth 22.4%. The highest equivalence-adjusted quintile received 50.5%, and the top 5% received 22.3%.
The equivalence-adjusted percentile levels were $30,280 at the 10th percentile, $112,700 at the median, and $310,800 at the 90th percentile. The equivalence-adjusted Gini index was 0.465. The 90th-to-10th ratio was 10.26, the 90th-to-median ratio was 2.76, and the median was 3.72 times the 10th-percentile income.
Compared with the household money-income figures, these equivalence-adjusted measures use a different income concept and should be interpreted separately. The distribution remains concentrated toward the top: the highest equivalence-adjusted quintile received 50.5% of aggregate income in 2024, compared with 3.5% for the lowest quintile.
Post-tax household income
Post-tax income changes the distribution by incorporating the Census Bureau’s post-tax measure. Table B-3. Distribution Measures Using Post-Tax Income and Equivalence-Adjusted Post-Tax Income: 2023 and 2024 reports the 2024 U.S. post-tax figures.
The lowest post-tax income quintile received 3.8% of aggregate household post-tax income. The second quintile received 9.4%, the third 15.0%, and the fourth 23.2%. The highest quintile received 48.6%, while the top 5% received 20.4%.
The corresponding post-tax household-income percentiles were $19,520 at the 10th percentile, $72,330 at the median, and $192,400 at the 90th percentile. The post-tax Gini index was 0.446. The 90th-to-10th ratio was 9.85, the 90th-to-median ratio was 2.66, and the median was 3.71 times the 10th-percentile income.
| 2024 measure | Money income | Post-tax income |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest quintile share | 3.1% | 3.8% |
| Highest quintile share | 52.2% | 48.6% |
| Top 5% share | 23.1% | 20.4% |
| 10th percentile | $19,900 | $19,520 |
| Median | $83,730 | $72,330 |
| 90th percentile | $251,000 | $192,400 |
| Gini index | 0.488 | 0.446 |
| 90th-to-10th ratio | 12.61 | 9.85 |
Sources: Table A-3 and Table B-3, Census Bureau, 2024 U.S. measures.
Post-tax equivalence-adjusted income
When both post-tax income and household-size adjustment are used, the lowest equivalence-adjusted post-tax income quintile received 4.5% of aggregate U.S. income in 2024. The second quintile received 10.3%, the third 15.7%, and the fourth 22.8%. The highest quintile received 46.6%, and the top 5% received 19.6%.
The 10th percentile of equivalence-adjusted post-tax income was $32,280. The median was $97,290, and the 90th percentile was $238,400. The Gini index was 0.418. The 90th-to-10th ratio was 7.38, the 90th-to-median ratio was 2.45, and the median was 3.01 times the 10th-percentile income.
The four measures in the Census tables answer different questions. Money income describes the household distribution before the post-tax adjustment. Post-tax income describes the distribution after that adjustment. Equivalence-adjusted versions additionally account for household size. A comparison is meaningful only when the income concept and adjustment are kept clear.
For readers comparing the measures, the shares and ratios are distributional statistics rather than descriptions of a single typical household. A quintile contains one-fifth of households, while the top 5% is a narrower group within the upper end of the distribution. Percentile values identify positions in the ordered distribution; they do not say that every household in a group has the same income. The median divides the measured population into two equal-sized halves, and the 10th and 90th percentiles mark lower and upper reference points. The Gini index is reported on a zero-to-one scale in these tables, with the 2024 values shown above. Keeping those definitions separate helps prevent a household share, a percentile threshold, and an inequality index from being treated as interchangeable facts.
How taxes and transfers change inequality
The Census Bureau’s Table B-4. Distribution Measures Using Money Income, Post-Tax Income, Equivalence-Adjusted Income, and Equivalence-Adjusted Post-Tax Income: 2024 reports the change between money-income and post-tax measures.
For the lowest quintile, the income share rose from 3.1% using money income to 3.8% post-tax. Census reported that as a 23.3% increase. For the highest quintile, the share fell from 52.2% to 48.6%, a reported 7.0% decrease. The top 5% share fell from 23.1% to 20.4%, a reported 11.8% decrease.
The post-tax 10th-percentile household income was $19,520, compared with $19,900 for money income; Census reported the post-tax figure as 1.9% below the money-income figure. The post-tax median was $72,330, 13.6% below the $83,730 money-income median. The post-tax 90th percentile was $192,400, 23.4% below the $251,000 money-income figure.
The inequality indexes also narrowed under the post-tax measure. The post-tax household-income Gini was 0.446, reported as 8.7% below the money-income Gini of 0.488. The post-tax 90th-to-10th ratio was 9.85, 21.9% below the money-income ratio of 12.61. The post-tax 90th-to-median ratio was 2.66, 11.3% below 3.00, and the post-tax median-to-10th ratio was 3.71, 11.9% below 4.21.
These comparisons describe the 2024 U.S. distributions reported by Census and the measurement definitions used in its tables. They do not establish a trend across years or explain changes outside the reported measures. For the underlying publication, see Income in the United States: 2024.