Top Percentiles
Affluence and economic standing within society often are expressed in terms of percentile ranking. Economic ranking is conducted either in terms of giving lower thresholds for a designated group (e.g. the top 5%, 10%, 15%, etc.) or in terms of the percentage of households/individuals with incomes above a certain thresholds (e.g. above $75,000, $100,000, $150,000, etc.). The table below presents 2006 income data in terms of the lower thresholds for the given percentages (e.g. the top 25.6% of households had incomes exceeding $80,000, compared to $47,000 for the top quarter of individuals).
| Data | Top third | Top quarter | Top quintile | Top 15% | Top 10% | Top 5% | Top 3% | Top 1.5% | Top 0.1% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Household income | ||||||||||
| Lower threshold (annual gross income) | $65,000 | $80,000 | $91,202 | $100,000 | $118,200 | $166,200 | $200,000 | $250,000 | $1,600,000 | |
| Exact Percentage of households | 34.72% | 25.60% | 20.00% | 17.80% | 10.00% | 5.00% | 2.67% | 1.50% | 0.12% | |
| Personal income (age 25+) | ||||||||||
| Lower threshold (annual gross income) | $37,500 | $47,500 | $52,500 | $62,500 | $75,000 | $100,000 | N/A | |||
| Exact Percentage of individuals | 33.55% | 24.03% | 19.74% | 14.47% | 10.29% | 5.63% | N/A | |||
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2006
Read more about this topic: Affluence In The United States
Famous quotes containing the word top:
“What exacerbates the strain in the working class is the absence of money to pay for services they need, economic insecurity, poor daycare, and lack of dignity and boredom in each partner’s job. What exacerbates it in upper-middle class is the instability of paid help and the enormous demands of the career system in which both partners become willing believers. But the tug between traditional and egalitarian models of marriage runs from top to bottom of the class ladder.”
—Arlie Hochschild (20th century)