US top income shares, 1913–today
In 2024, the top 1% of US adults received about 21% of all pre-tax income and the top 10% about 47% — the U-shaped century first documented from tax records by Piketty and Saez.
Data as of: World Inequality Database (WID.world) (WID bulk data, latest year 2024) ·
How to read this chart
Each line is the slice of the nation's total pre-tax income going to that group in a given year. Read left to right: high concentration before 1929, a sharp fall through the Depression and WWII, decades of low concentration, then a climb from around 1980. These are pre-tax shares — after taxes and transfers the top shares are lower. Background: how inequality is measured; the original paper: Piketty & Saez (2003).
Methodology
Share of pre-tax national income (before taxes and transfers, after pension/unemployment insurance) received by each group, equal-split among adult couples, age 20+. WID variable sptincj992. Pre-tax shares are the standard series in the Piketty–Saez tradition; post-tax shares are lower at the top.
Coverage: United States, 1820–2024. WID updates annually; we re-sync at least every 120 days. License: CC BY 4.0 (WID.world terms). Download the data (JSON).
Data table (text alternative)
| Year | Top 1% share | Top 10% share |
|---|---|---|
| 1915 | 20.3% | 43.0% |
| 1920 | 18.8% | 43.3% |
| 1925 | 20.7% | 47.2% |
| 1930 | 19.1% | 45.5% |
| 1935 | 19.3% | 48.1% |
| 1940 | 20.5% | 48.0% |
| 1945 | 14.3% | 35.3% |
| 1950 | 16.4% | 38.3% |
| 1955 | 14.6% | 36.7% |
| 1960 | 12.4% | 34.8% |
| 1965 | 13.0% | 36.6% |
| 1970 | 10.7% | 33.5% |
| 1975 | 10.4% | 34.0% |
| 1980 | 10.4% | 33.8% |
| 1985 | 12.3% | 36.5% |
| 1990 | 14.7% | 38.8% |
| 1995 | 14.5% | 39.9% |
| 2000 | 17.3% | 42.7% |
| 2005 | 18.1% | 43.6% |
| 2010 | 17.9% | 43.8% |
| 2015 | 18.9% | 45.5% |
| 2020 | 18.2% | 44.6% |
| 2024 | 20.7% | 46.8% |