Affluence in The United States - Top Percentiles

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:

    You would play upon me, you would seem to know my stops, you
    would pluck out the heart of my mystery, you would sound me
    from my lowest note to the top of my compass; and there is
    much music, excellent voice, in this little organ.
    William Shakespeare (1564–1616)