Pulling
Apart:
A State-by-State Analysis of Income Trends
UNITED STATES OVERVIEW
Inequality has been increasing in the United States for nearly two decades. This can be observed by ranking all United States families with children according to their income level, dividing them into five groups (or fifths) of equal size, and calculating the average income of each fifth of families. This analysis shows by the mid-1990s:
The Long-Term Trend
Since the late 1970s, income inequality has increased in the United States. The long-term economic growth of the past two decades was not shared evenly among the poor, the rich, and the middle class. Instead, the top fifth of families with children fared substantially better than other income groups.
The gap between the top fifth of families and the bottom fifth of families grew by 65 percent since the 1970s.
The Recent Trend
Over the past decade, income has increased in the United States. While the average incomes of poor and middle class families with children have stayed about the same or decreased since the mid-1980s, the average income of the richest fifth of families has increased.
The gap between the top fifth of families and the bottom fifth of families increased between the mid-1980s and the mid-1990s. The gap between the rich and the middle class also increased.