A Guide to Statistics on Historical Trends in Income Inequality | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Data from a variety of sources contribute to this broad picture of strong growth and shared prosperity during the early postwar period, followed by slower growth and greater inequality since the 1970s. Within these broad trends, however, different data tell slightly different parts of the story, and no single data source is best for all purposes. This guide consists of four sections. The first describes the commonly used sources and statistics on income and discusses their relative strengths and limitations for understanding income trends. The second provides an overview of the trends revealed in those key data sources. The third and fourth sections supply additional information on wealth, which complements the income data as a measure of how the most well-off people in the U.S. are doing, and poverty, which measures how the least well-off people are doing. The most widely used sources of data and statistics on household income and its distribution are the annual household survey condu

Data from a variety of sources contribute to this broad picture of strong growth and shared prosperity during the early postwar period, followed by slower growth and greater inequality since the 1970s. Within these broad trends, however, different data tell slightly different parts of the story, and no single data source is best for all purposes. This guide consists of four sections. The first describes the commonly used sources and statistics on income and discusses their relative strengths and limitations for understanding income trends. The second provides an overview of the trends revealed