Pitketty & Saez

Breakdown of Income share Top 5% (1917-2002)

by Catherine Mulbrandon

in Growth of Income Inequality, VE Infographics

Taking a closer look at the share of income going to the Top 5%, we see that the more dramatic change in the income share can be found among the Top 1% of income earners. Beginning with a high of almost 20% of total income of the United States going to the Top 1% then dropping to a low of 8% and creeping back up to 17%.

At the same time the share going to other 4% is more consistent, between 13% to 15%.

Datasource: Excel file produced by Emmanual Saez and Thomas Piketty

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Income share going to the richest 5% (1917-2002)

by Catherine Mulbrandon

in Growth of Income Inequality, VE Infographics

Here, I am taking a closer look at the bottom and top halves of the Top 10%. Look at the dramatic change in income share going to the top 5% (purple line), from 35% to 20% to 32%. Again it is the most wealthy who have the extreme changes in income. (See previous graphs that I posted about the drop in income after 2000)

Also the share of income going to the top 5% in 2000 was closing in on the previous high in 1928. Then they lost ground with the stock market decline.

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