Income inequality vs. GDP per capita in United States
United States: Income inequality vs. GDP per capita was 0.4176 in 2024. ▲ Rising
Latest (2024)
0.4176
Change on year
down 0.1%
World rank
20th
of 120 countries
All-time high
0.419
in 2019
All-time low
0.3472
in 1980
Years of data
62
1963–2024
Income inequality vs. GDP per capita in United States, 1963–2024
Source: World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
Analysis
The most recent figure for income inequality vs. gdp per capita in United States is 0.4176, measured in 2024.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.1% on the previous year and up 0.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, income inequality vs. gdp per capita in United States peaked at 0.419 in 2019 and was at its lowest, 0.3472, in 1980.
United States ranks 20th of 120 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 62 years of available data.
Income inequality vs. GDP per capita in United States, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1963 | 0.3673 | — |
| 1964 | 0.3738 | +1.8% |
| 1965 | 0.3683 | -1.5% |
| 1966 | 0.371 | +0.7% |
| 1967 | 0.3687 | -0.6% |
| 1968 | 0.3632 | -1.5% |
| 1969 | 0.3601 | -0.9% |
| 1970 | 0.3659 | +1.6% |
| 1971 | 0.3691 | +0.9% |
| 1972 | 0.3666 | -0.7% |
| 1973 | 0.3611 | -1.5% |
| 1974 | 0.3548 | -1.8% |
| 1975 | 0.3565 | +0.5% |
| 1976 | 0.3556 | -0.2% |
| 1977 | 0.355 | -0.2% |
| 1978 | 0.3478 | -2.0% |
| 1979 | 0.3476 | -0.1% |
| 1980 | 0.3472 | -0.1% |
| 1981 | 0.3549 | +2.2% |
| 1982 | 0.3666 | +3.3% |
| 1983 | 0.3729 | +1.7% |
| 1984 | 0.3735 | +0.1% |
| 1985 | 0.3764 | +0.8% |
| 1986 | 0.3756 | -0.2% |
| 1987 | 0.372 | -1.0% |
| 1988 | 0.3771 | +1.4% |
| 1989 | 0.3824 | +1.4% |
| 1990 | 0.3826 | +0.1% |
| 1991 | 0.3805 | -0.6% |
| 1992 | 0.3837 | +0.9% |
| 1993 | 0.4037 | +5.2% |
| 1994 | 0.3999 | -0.9% |
| 1995 | 0.3986 | -0.3% |
| 1996 | 0.4031 | +1.1% |
| 1997 | 0.4053 | +0.5% |
| 1998 | 0.3995 | -1.4% |
| 1999 | 0.3999 | +0.1% |
| 2000 | 0.4014 | +0.4% |
| 2001 | 0.406 | +1.1% |
| 2002 | 0.4035 | -0.6% |
| 2003 | 0.4077 | +1.0% |
| 2004 | 0.4055 | -0.5% |
| 2005 | 0.4126 | +1.8% |
| 2006 | 0.417 | +1.1% |
| 2007 | 0.4109 | -1.5% |
| 2008 | 0.4109 | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 0.4085 | -0.6% |
| 2010 | 0.4024 | -1.5% |
| 2011 | 0.4117 | +2.3% |
| 2012 | 0.4116 | -0.0% |
| 2013 | 0.4087 | -0.7% |
| 2014 | 0.4174 | +2.1% |
| 2015 | 0.4146 | -0.7% |
| 2016 | 0.4133 | -0.3% |
| 2017 | 0.4139 | +0.1% |
| 2018 | 0.4178 | +1.0% |
| 2019 | 0.419 | +0.3% |
| 2020 | 0.4 | -4.5% |
| 2021 | 0.3971 | -0.7% |
| 2022 | 0.417 | +5.0% |
| 2023 | 0.4182 | +0.3% |
| 2024 | 0.4176 | -0.1% |
United States compared with similar countries
- United States's 0.4176 is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.3209, 1.3× the median. (42 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 0.3675 | 0.3601 | 0.3738 | 7 |
| 1970s | 0.358 | 0.3476 | 0.3691 | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.3698 | 0.3472 | 0.3824 | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.3957 | 0.3805 | 0.4053 | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.4084 | 0.4014 | 0.417 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.413 | 0.4024 | 0.419 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.41 | 0.3971 | 0.4182 | 5 |
Countries ranked near United States
More poverty & inequality data for United States
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 9 surveys (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per person (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Fertility rate vs. share living in extreme poverty 1.62 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 8,414 kg per hectare (2024)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, annual growth rate 1 % change on previous year (2024)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 24.85 (2023)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 24.8% (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is income inequality vs. gdp per capita in United States?
- Income inequality vs. gdp per capita in United States was 0.4176 in 2024, according to World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest income inequality vs. gdp per capita recorded in United States?
- The highest recorded value was 0.419 in 2019.
- What is the lowest income inequality vs. gdp per capita recorded in United States?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.3472 in 1980.
- How does United States rank for income inequality vs. gdp per capita?
- United States ranks 20th out of 120 countries with data for 2024.
- Is income inequality vs. gdp per capita rising or falling in United States?
- Over the last ten years it is up 0.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this United States data come from?
- The figures come from World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Income inequality vs. GDP per capita. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 62 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
The Gini coefficient measures inequality on a scale from 0 to 1. Higher values indicate higher inequality.