The Percentage Of American Workers In Each Income Bracket, Visualized
Income inequality has long been an issue in American society, and in the past few weeks, the social and economic gaps between the rich and the poor have only been widened by the effects of COVID-19. As we grapple with the economic aftermath of the pandemic, including record-breaking numbers in unemployment claims, it's worth keeping in mind the wage disparity in our society and the large percentage of people whose livelihoods will likely be threatened by the coronavirus pandemic.
This chart from personal finance site HowMuch helps give us a clear and sobering picture of how wages are distributed in the US.
According to the graph, which uses 2018 wage data from the Social Security Administration, 46.51% of US workers earned less than $30,000. The raw average for wages in 2018 was $50,000, but unfortunately, 67.43% of workers earned wages below that salary level.
Click here for a full-sized image
In contrast, 10.3% of the total population of workers earned more than $100,000, and when it came to breaking into the million-dollar club, a slim 0.09% were able to make more than $1 million in 2018.
If you're curious about the figures, here's a clearer breakdown of the distribution of wage income in the US:
- Less than $30,000: 46.51%
- $30,000 – $49,999: 20.93%
- $50,000 – $99,999: 22.27%
- $100,000 – $250,000: 8.89%
- $250,000 – $1,000,000: 1.39%
- More than $1,000,000: 0.09%
[Read more at HowMuch]
