INCOME INEQUALITY



Gini Index (0.0 = perfect equality, 1.0 = one person has all the income)



1947   .376

1948   .371

1949   .378

1950   .379

1951   .363

1952   .368

1953   .359

1954   .371

1955   .363

1956   .358

1957   .351

1958   .354

1959   .361

1960   .364

1961   .374

1962   .362

1963   .362

1964   .361

1965   .356

1966   .349

1967   .348

1968   .348

1969   .349

1970   .353

1971   .355

1972   .359

1973   .356

1974   .355

1975   .357

1976   .358

1977   .363

1978   .363

1979   .365

1980   .365

1981   .369

1982   .380

1983   .382

1984   .383

1985   .389

1986   .392

1987   .393

1988   .395

1989   .401

1990   .396

1991   .397

1992   .403

1993   .429

1994   .426



Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, Series P60





Share of aggregate family income by quintile (1994 dollars, CPI-U-X1)



Year     Lowest  Second   Third    Fourth   Fifth    Top 5%

-----------------------------------------------------------

1947     5.0     11.9     17.0     23.1     43.0     17.5

1948     4.9     12.1     17.3     23.2     42.4     17.1

1949     4.5     11.9     17.3     23.5     42.7     16.9

1950     4.5     12.0     17.4     23.4     42.7     17.3

1951     5.0     12.4     17.6     23.4     41.6     16.8

1952     4.9     12.3     17.4     23.4     41.9     17.4

1953     4.7     12.5     18.0     23.9     40.9     15.7

1954     4.5     12.1     17.7     23.9     41.8     16.3

1955     4.8     12.3     17.8     23.7     41.3     16.4

1956     5.0     12.5     17.9     23.7     41.0     16.1

1957     5.1     12.7     18.1     23.8     40.4     15.6

1958     5.0     12.5     18.0     23.9     40.6     15.4

1959     4.9     12.3     17.9     23.8     41.1     15.9

1960     4.8     12.2     17.8     24.0     41.3     15.9

1961     4.7     11.9     17.5     23.8     42.2     16.6

1962     5.0     12.1     17.6     24.0     41.3     15.7

1963     5.0     12.1     17.7     24.0     41.2     15.8

1964     5.1     12.0     17.7     24.0     41.2     15.9

1965     5.2     12.2     17.8     23.9     40.9     15.5

1966     5.6     12.4     17.8     23.8     40.5     15.6

1967     5.4     12.2     17.5     23.5     41.4     16.4

1968     5.6     12.4     17.7     23.7     40.5     15.6

1969     5.6     12.4     17.7     23.7     40.6     15.6

1970     5.4     12.2     17.6     23.8     40.9     15.6

1971     5.5     12.0     17.6     23.8     41.1     15.7

1972     5.4     11.9     17.5     23.9     41.4     15.9

1973     5.5     11.9     17.5     24.0     41.1     15.5

1974     5.5     12.0     17.5     24.0     41.0     15.5

1975     5.4     11.8     17.6     24.1     41.1     15.5

1976     5.4     11.8     17.6     24.1     41.1     15.6

1977     5.2     11.6     17.5     24.2     41.5     15.7

1978     5.2     11.6     17.5     24.1     41.5     15.6

1979     5.2     11.6     17.5     24.1     41.7     15.8

1980     5.1     11.6     17.5     24.3     41.6     15.3

1981     5.0     11.3     17.4     24.4     41.9     15.4

1982     4.7     11.2     17.1     24.3     42.7     16.0

1983     4.7     11.1     17.1     24.3     42.8     15.9

1984     4.7     11.0     17.0     24.4     42.9     16.0

1985     4.6     10.9     16.9     24.2     43.5     16.7

1986     4.6     10.8     16.8     24.0     43.7     17.0

1987     4.6     10.7     16.8     24.0     43.8     17.2

1988     4.6     10.7     16.7     24.0     44.0     17.2

1989     4.6     10.6     16.5     23.7     44.6     17.9

1990     4.6     10.8     16.6     23.8     44.3     17.4

1991     4.5     10.7     16.6     24.1     44.2     17.1

1992     4.3     10.5     16.5     24.0     44.7     17.6

1993     4.1      9.9     15.7     23.3     47.0     20.3

1994     4.2     10.0     15.7     23.3     46.9     20.1



Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, Series P60





Income at selected positions (1994 dollars, CPI-U-X1)



        Upper Limit of Each Fifth

        ---------------------------------

         First   Second   Third    Fourth    Top 5%      Average

----------------------------------------------------------------

1947    $9,700  $15,653  $21,226  $30,118   $49,433     $21,716

1948     9,361   15,391   20,550   28,667    46,683      20,765

1949     8,829   15,083   20,347   28,753    46,154      20,422

1950     9,395   16,155   21,500   29,883    48,731      21,580

1951    10,227   16,674   22,057   30,117    47,199      21,963

1952    10,564   17,089   23,120   31,271    48,654      22,935

1953    10,931   18,551   24,892   33,524    52,136      24,049

1954    10,212   17,962   24,316   33,315    52,794      23,773

1955    11,311   19,251   25,882   35,054    54,009      25,270

1956    12,206   20,543   27,252   36,950    57,267      26,741

1957    12,089   20,573   27,181   36,467    55,850      26,448

1958    11,941   20,252   26,997   36,814    56,637      26,265

1959    12,555   21,409   28,519   39,301    60,030      28,027

1960    12,813   22,092   29,290   40,502    62,299      28,660

1961    12,768   21,979   29,914   41,200    66,576      29,508

1962    13,555   22,591   30,724   42,924    67,323      30,137

1963    13,779   23,142   31,750   44,367    67,398      31,144

1964    14,292   24,187   32,982   44,860    69,430      32,261

1965    15,167   25,406   34,277   46,800    72,345      33,384

1966    16,567   26,937   36,052   49,007    75,784      35,345

1967    16,776   27,537   36,928   50,625    81,343      36,821

1968    17,863   28,697   39,153   52,676    80,940      38,013

1969    18,807   30,091   40,623   55,485    85,396      39,785

1970    18,301   29,855   40,545   55,731    87,018      39,853

1971    17,918   29,668   40,664   55,766    87,080      39,828

1972    18,732   31,042   42,908   59,280    92,912      42,140

1973    19,093   31,505   43,958   60,451    94,242      42,771

1974    19,152   31,290   43,055   59,474    93,415      42,007

1975    18,425   30,339   42,192   58,418    91,504      40,995

1976    18,725   31,184   43,377   59,909    94,159      42,090

1977    18,759   31,415   44,413   61,193    96,963      42,828

1978    19,338   32,494   45,492   63,232   100,249      44,111

1979    19,749   32,474   46,006   63,350   101,629      44,692

1980    18,728   31,531   44,658   62,665    99,040      43,171

1981    18,118   30,841   44,013   62,175    98,677      42,499

1982    17,671   30,263   43,328   62,166   101,249      42,462

1983    17,610   30,162   43,857   62,713   103,209      42,883

1984    17,937   31,200   45,193   64,990   106,407      44,292

1985    18,298   31,521   45,661   66,427   108,760      45,375

1986    18,931   32,588   47,489   68,380   112,773      47,224

1987    19,044   32,852   48,010   69,573   113,432      48,118

1988    18,919   32,799   48,231   70,036   115,254      48,366

1989    19,126   33,465   48,763   71,172   118,277      49,606

1990    19,102   32,933   47,669   69,723   116,063      48,363

1991    18,498   31,676   46,789   68,541   111,883      47,046

1992    17,654   31,345   46,478   67,657   111,981      46,711

1993    17,405   30,768   46,183   68,504   116,080      48,430

1994    17,940   31,300   47,000   69,998   120,043      49,340



Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, Series P60



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