Income inequality: Atkinson index in United States
United States: Income inequality: Atkinson index was 0.2393 in 2023. ▼ Falling
Income inequality: Atkinson index in United States, 2010–2023
Source: UNDP, Human Development Report (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2023, income inequality: atkinson index in United States stood at 0.2393. That is the lowest value across all 14 years on record.
The figure is down 8.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, income inequality: atkinson index in United States peaked at 0.2679 in 2015 and was at its lowest, 0.2393, in 2022.
United States ranks 92nd of 174 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 14 years of available data.
Income inequality: Atkinson index in United States, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 0.2576 | — |
| 2011 | 0.2543 | -1.3% |
| 2012 | 0.2625 | +3.2% |
| 2013 | 0.2623 | -0.1% |
| 2014 | 0.258 | -1.6% |
| 2015 | 0.2679 | +3.8% |
| 2016 | 0.2646 | -1.2% |
| 2017 | 0.2641 | -0.2% |
| 2018 | 0.2663 | +0.8% |
| 2019 | 0.2672 | +0.3% |
| 2020 | 0.2673 | +0.1% |
| 2021 | 0.2446 | -8.5% |
| 2022 | 0.2393 | -2.2% |
| 2023 | 0.2393 | +0.0% |
United States compared with similar countries
- United States's 0.2393 is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.1703, 1.4× the median. (54 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 0.2625 | 0.2543 | 0.2679 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.2476 | 0.2393 | 0.2673 | 4 |
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: atkinson index in United States?
- Income inequality: atkinson index in United States was 0.2393 in 2023, according to UNDP, Human Development Report (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest income inequality: atkinson index recorded in United States?
- The highest recorded value was 0.2679 in 2015.
- What is the lowest income inequality: atkinson index recorded in United States?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.2393 in 2022.
- How does United States rank for income inequality: atkinson index?
- United States ranks 92nd out of 174 countries with data for 2023.
- Is income inequality: atkinson index rising or falling in United States?
- Over the last ten years it is down 8.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this United States data come from?
- The figures come from UNDP, Human Development Report (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Income inequality: Atkinson index. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 14 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
The Atkinson index measures inequality on a scale from 0 to 1. Higher values indicate higher inequality. Depending on the country and year, the data relates to income measured after taxes and benefits, or to consumption, per capita.