Realtime Inequality provides the first timely statistics on how economic growth is distributed across groups. When new growth numbers come out each quarter, we show how each income and wealth group benefits. Controlling for price inflation, average national income per adult in the United States increased by 7.6% in 2021, and average income for the bottom 50% grew by 11.7%. National income is similar to GDP (which grew slightly less in 2021) and a better indicator of income earned by US residents. Visit the Methodology page for complete methodological details.
You can adjust the graph with the options below: what the y-axis displays, the definition of income, the statistical unit, the data frequency, and the time range. You can also select groups using the box on the right. All dollar figures are annualized and adjusted for price inflation to March 2022 dollars.
Loading Income Data...
You can adjust the graph with the options below: what the y-axis displays, the definition of income, the statistical unit, the data frequency, and the time range. You can also select groups using the box on the right. All dollar figures are adjusted for price inflation to March 2022 dollars.
Loading Wealth Data...
You can adjust the graph with the options below: what the y-axis displays, the definition of labor income, the statistical unit, the data frequency, and the time range. You can also select groups using the box on the right. All dollar figures are annualized and adjusted for price inflation to March 2023 dollars.
Loading Labor Data...