Household income distribution, 2007
January 13, 2009
The graph below shows a histogram of the household income distribution in the US in 2007. It was constructed using data from the Current Population Survey (CPS), Table HINC-06. I smoothed the table by merging pairs of $2,500-wide intervals into $5,000-wide intervals, since the narrow intervals showed marked oscillation, as people apparently tend to report their income in multiples of $5,000.
The three vertical dashed lines indicate the 25th, 50th and 75th percentiles. The corresponding values are $25,100, $50,300 and $88,400, respectively.
The following table gives the deciles of the distribution:
| Percentile | 10 | 20 | 30 | 40 | 50 | 60 | 70 | 80 | 90 |
| Income, $1000’s | 12.3 | 20.8 | 29.8 | 39.4 | 50.3 | 62.7 | 78.6 | 100.8 | 141.9 |
All percentile points were calculated by interpolating linearly within the income bins.
Pro Bono Statistics 
January 14, 2009 at 5:35 pm
[…] November 28, 2008 Note: This post deals with the proportion of total US income taken up by the households controlling the most income. The percentiles of the income distribution are given in a different post: Household income distribution, 2007. […]