In the first quarter of 2024, almost two-thirds percent of the total wealth in the United States was owned by the top 10 percent of earners. In comparison, the lowest 50 percent of earners only owned 2.5 percent of the total wealth. Income inequality in the U.S. Despite the idea that the United States is a country where hard work and pulling yourself up by your bootstraps will inevitably lead to success, this is often not the case. In 2023, 7.4 percent of U.S. households had an annual income under 15,000 U.S. dollars. With such a small percentage of people in the United States owning such a vast majority of the country’s wealth, the gap between the rich and poor in America remains stark. The top one percent The United States follows closely behind China as the country with the most billionaires in the world. Elon Musk alone held around 219 billion U.S. dollars in 2022. Over the past 50 years, the CEO-to-worker compensation ratio has exploded, causing the gap between rich and poor to grow, with some economists theorizing that this gap is the largest it has been since right before the Great Depression.

This map shows households within high ($200,000 or more) and low (less than $25,000) annual income ranges. This is shown as a percentage of total households. The data is attached to tract, county, and state centroids and shows:Percent of households making less than $25,000 annuallyPercent of households making $200,000 or more annuallyThe data shown is household income in the past 12 months. These are the American Community Survey (ACS) most current 5-year estimates: Table B19001. The data layer is updated annually, so this map always shows the most current values from the U.S. Census Bureau. To find the layer used in this map and see the full metadata, visit this Living Atlas item.These categories were constructed using an Arcade expression, which groups the lowest census income categories and normalizes them by total households.

In the third quarter of 2024, the top ten percent of earners in the United States held over 67 percent of total wealth. This is fairly consistent with the second quarter of 2024. Comparatively, the wealth of the bottom 50 percent of earners has been slowly increasing since the start of the 2010s, though remains low. Wealth distribution in the United States by generation can be found here.

This survey represents the thoughts of the U.S. population concerning the income gap between the rich and the poor in 2012. In 2012, 65 percent of the respondents thought that the income gap between the rich and the poor in the United States has gotten larger in the past ten years. The number of ultra high net worth individuals in each region worldwide can be accessed here.

Graph and download economic data for Net Worth Held by the Bottom 50% (1st to 50th Wealth Percentiles) (WFRBLB50107) from Q3 1989 to Q4 2024 about net worth, wealth, percentile, Net, and USA.

New York was the state with the greatest gap between rich and poor, with a Gini coefficient score of 0.52 in 2023. Although not a state, District of Columbia was among the highest Gini coefficients in the United States that year.

This data collection focuses on the federal budget deficit and on issues dealing with the rich and the poor in America. Respondents were asked if they approved of the way George Bush, Democrats in Congress, and Republicans in Congress were handling the the federal budget deficit, and who was more to blame for the larger deficit. Additionally, respondents were asked how much money it takes to be rich in the United States, whether they would want to be rich, how likely it was that they would ever be rich or poor, whether the percentage of Americans who are rich was increasing, and whether they respected and admired rich people. Other questions asked respondents if they characterized rich people as more likely to be honest, snobbish, intelligent, and a variety of other traits, whether respondents would be more or less likely to vote for a candidate who was a millionaire/self-made millionaire, and which political party better represented the interests of poor, rich, and middle class people. Background information on respondents includes political alignment, 1988 presidential vote choice, registered voter status, education, age, religion, social class, marital status, number of people in the household, labor union membership, employment status, race, income, sex, and state/region of residence.

Graph and download economic data for 90% Confidence Interval Upper Bound of Estimate of Percent of People Age 0-17 in Poverty for Rich County, UT (PPCIUBU18UT49033A156NCEN) from 1989 to 2023 about Rich County, UT; UT; under 18 years; percent; child; poverty; persons; and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Poverty Universe, Age 0-17 for Rich County, UT (PUA0T17UT49033A647NCEN) from 1998 to 2023 about Rich County, UT; UT; child; poverty; and USA.

Percent of Population Below the Poverty Level (5-year estimate) in Rich County, UT was 9.50% in January of 2023, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, Percent of Population Below the Poverty Level (5-year estimate) in Rich County, UT reached a record high of 18.00 in January of 2017 and a record low of 7.00 in January of 2013. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Percent of Population Below the Poverty Level (5-year estimate) in Rich County, UT - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on June of 2025.

In the first quarter of 2024, 51.8 percent of the total wealth in the United States was owned by members of the baby boomer generation. In comparison, millennials own around 9.4 percent of total wealth in the U.S. In terms of population distribution, there is almost an equal share of millennials and baby boomers in the United States.

In 2023, roughly 1.49 billion adults worldwide had a net worth of less than 10,000 U.S. dollars. By comparison, 58 million adults had a net worth of more than one million U.S. dollars in the same year. Wealth distribution The distribution of wealth is an indicator of economic inequality. The United Nations says that wealth includes the sum of natural, human, and physical assets. Wealth is not synonymous with income, however, because having a large income can be depleted if one has significant expenses. In 2023, nearly 1,700 billionaires had a total wealth between one to two billion U.S. dollars. Wealth worldwide China had the highest number of billionaires in 2023, with the United States following behind. That same year, New York had the most billionaires worldwide.

Estimated Percent of People of All Ages in Poverty for Rich County, UT was 7.60% in January of 2023, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, Estimated Percent of People of All Ages in Poverty for Rich County, UT reached a record high of 11.50 in January of 1993 and a record low of 7.60 in January of 2023. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Estimated Percent of People of All Ages in Poverty for Rich County, UT - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on June of 2025.

Estimate of People of All Ages in Poverty in Rich County, UT was 203.00000 Persons in January of 2023, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, Estimate of People of All Ages in Poverty in Rich County, UT reached a record high of 265.00000 in January of 2011 and a record low of 157.00000 in January of 2003. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Estimate of People of All Ages in Poverty in Rich County, UT - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on June of 2025.

Graph and download economic data for 90% Confidence Interval Upper Bound of Estimate of Related Children Age 5-17 in Families in Poverty for Rich County, UT (PECIUB5T17UT49033A647NCEN) from 1989 to 2023 about Rich County, UT; UT; 5 to 17 years; family; child; poverty; persons; and USA.

About 50.4 percent of the household income of private households in the U.S. were earned by the highest quintile in 2023, which are the upper 20 percent of the workers. In contrast to that, in the same year, only 3.5 percent of the household income was earned by the lowest quintile. This relation between the quintiles is indicative of the level of income inequality in the United States. Income inequalityIncome inequality is a big topic for public discussion in the United States. About 65 percent of U.S. Americans think that the gap between the rich and the poor has gotten larger in the past ten years. This impression is backed up by U.S. census data showing that the Gini-coefficient for income distribution in the United States has been increasing constantly over the past decades for individuals and households. The Gini coefficient for individual earnings of full-time, year round workers has increased between 1990 and 2020 from 0.36 to 0.42, for example. This indicates an increase in concentration of income. In general, the Gini coefficient is calculated by looking at average income rates. A score of zero would reflect perfect income equality and a score of one indicates a society where one person would have all the money and all other people have nothing. Income distribution is also affected by region. The state of New York had the widest gap between rich and poor people in the United States, with a Gini coefficient of 0.51, as of 2019. In global comparison, South Africa led the ranking of the 20 countries with the biggest inequality in income distribution in 2018. South Africa had a score of 63 points, based on the Gini coefficient. On the other hand, the Gini coefficient stood at 16.6 in Azerbaijan, indicating that income is widely spread among the population and not concentrated on a few rich individuals or families. Slovenia led the ranking of the 20 countries with the greatest income distribution equality in 2018.

Estimated Percent of People Age 0-17 in Poverty for Rich County, UT was 11.40% in January of 2023, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, Estimated Percent of People Age 0-17 in Poverty for Rich County, UT reached a record high of 16.60 in January of 2011 and a record low of 9.20 in January of 2002. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Estimated Percent of People Age 0-17 in Poverty for Rich County, UT - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on June of 2025.

This is a longitudinal survey designed to provide detailed information on the economic situation of households and persons in the United States. These data examine the distribution of income, wealth, and poverty in American society and gauge the effects of federal and state programs on the well-being of families and individuals. There are three basic elements contained in the survey. The first is a control card that records basic social and demographic characteristics for each person in a household, as well as changes in such characteristics over the course of the interviewing period. The second element is the core portion of the questionnaire, with questions repeated at each interview on labor force activity, types and amounts of income, participation in various cash and noncash benefit programs, attendance in postsecondary schools, private health insurance coverage, public or subsidized rental housing, low-income energy assistance, and school breakfast and lunch participation. The third element consists of topical modules, which are a series of supplemental questions asked during selected household visits. Topical modules include some core data to help link individuals to the core files. Topical module data for the 1992 Panel cover the following topics: Topical Module 1 -- welfare and other aid recipiency and employment, Topical Module 2 -- work disability, education and training, marital status, migration, and fertility histories, Topical Module 3 -- extended measures of well-being, including consumer durables, living conditions, and basic needs, Topical Module 4 -- assets and liabilities, retirement expectations and pension plan coverage, real estate, property, and vehicles, Topical Module 5 -- school enrollment and financing, Topical Module 6 -- work schedules, child care, support for nonhousehold members, functional limitations and disabilities, utilization of health care services, and home-based self-employment and size of firm, Topical Module 7 -- selected financial assets, medical expenses and work disability, real estate, shelter costs, dependent care, and vehicles, Topical Module 8 -- school enrollment and financing, Topical Module 9 -- work schedule, child care, child support agreements, child support, support for nonhousehold members, functional limitations and disability, utilization of health care, functional limitations and disability of children, health status and utilization of health care services, and utilization of health care services for children. Parts 26 and 27 are the Wave 5 and Wave 8 Topical Module Microdata Research Files obtained from the Census Bureau. These two topical module files include data on annual income, retirement accounts and taxes, and school enrollment and financing. These topical module files have not been edited nor imputed, although they have been topcoded or bottomcoded and recoded if necessary by the Census Bureau to avoid disclosure of individual respondents' identities. (Source: downloaded from ICPSR 7/13/10)

In 2022, about 40 percent of adults in Mexico held a net worth under 10,000 U.S. dollars. In contrast, merely 393,000 Mexicans (that is, 0.4 percent of the total) had a net worth of over one million U.S. dollars. Mexico is one of the most unequal countries in Latin America regarding wealth distribution, with 78.7 percent of the national wealth held by the richest ten percent of the population.

The minimum salaryThe minimum wage per day guaranteed by law in Mexico was decreed to increase by 22 percent between 2021 and 2022, reaching 172.87 Mexican pesos in 2022. In the Free Zone located near the northern border the minimum daily wage was raised to 260.34 Mexican pesos.This represented the fourth consecutive incrase since 2019, but could prove to be insufficient to maintain the wellbeing of Mexican workers after the soaring inflation rate registered in 2022 and the economic impact of the COVID-19 in Mexican households. The legal minimum salary has a long history in the North American country, it was first implemented with the approval of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States in 1917. Income inequality in Latin AmericaLatin America, as other developing regions in the world, generally records high rates of inequality, with a Gini coefficient ranging between 38 and 54 among the region’s countries. Moreover, many of the countries with the biggest inequality in income distribution worldwide are found in Latin America. According to the Human Development Report 2019, wealth redistribution by means of tax transfers improves Latin America's Gini coefficient to a lesser degree than it does in advanced economies. Wider access to education and health services, on the other hand, have been proven to have a greater direct effect in improving Gini coefficient measurements in the region.

Graph and download economic data for Estimate of Related Children Age 5-17 in Families in Poverty for Rich County, UT (PE5T17UT49033A647NCEN) from 1989 to 2023 about Rich County, UT; UT; 5 to 17 years; family; child; poverty; persons; and USA.