Visualizing Economics » Income – Average, Median

Designer Salaries 2001-2007

Catherine — Sun, 11 May 2008 15:46:18 +0000

From Coroflot’s Design Salary Survey found via gongblog. Apparently, as an interaction designer, I am working in one of the better-paid design professions.

{Click on the image to take a closer look}

[tags]designer salaries, United States[/tags]

Average Income in the United States (1913-2006)

Catherine — Sun, 04 May 2008 17:35:53 +0000

I have updated my most popular graph Average Income in the United States. It now includes data through 2006 (in 2006$). I also added recessions from National Bureau of Economic Research

{Click on the image to take a closer look}

Data from Emmanuel Saez’s web site

[tags]Average Income, United States, Recessions[/tags]

Does Higher Income Increases Happiness?

Catherine — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 01:41:33 +0000

From the New York Times

[tags]Happiness, United States, Income[/tags]

Top 400 Taxpayers: Income and Taxes Paid 1992-2005

Catherine — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 02:43:17 +0000

This graph shows the average income reported to the IRS and the average taxes paid by the top 400, i.e. the 400 taxes returns with the highest adjusted gross income from 1992-2005. This does not represent not gains in the wealth of people like Bill Gates but instead shows the annual income of the superrich reported to the IRS. They accounted for 1.15% of total income reported in 2005, more than twice as large as their 0.49% share in 1995.

{Click on the image to take a closer look}

Data from the IRS via Wall Street Journal’s Tax Report

[tags]Tax Rates, United States, Income tax, IRS[/tags]

Average Income: PreTax vs AfterTax 2005

Catherine — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 00:46:15 +0000

I created this graph showing the average income for different household percentiles, comparing pretax income and aftertax income. The minimum income threshold for each percentile is noted in the graph.

{Click on the image to take a closer look}

Data from Congressional Budget Office

[tags]United States, Income tax, average income[/tags]

Income of United States, Japan, India, China, and Indonesia since 1500

Catherine — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 02:36:01 +0000

I am comparing the GDP per Capita of the United States with Japan, India, China, and Indonesia over the last 500 years. (GDP per Capita for each country is in 1990 international Geary-Khamis dollars, calculated from purchasing power parities (PPPs) of currencies and average prices of commodities.)

{Click on the image to take a closer look}

Data estimates for population from Angus Maddison Emeritus Professor, Faculty of Economics, University of Groningen.

[tags]income, GDP per Capita, United States, China, India, Indonesia, Japan[/tags]

United States vs Great Britain (Revised)

Catherine — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 00:10:50 +0000

I am revisiting my previous graph United States vs Great Britain: Income and Population since 1500. In my original graph, I placed population on the y-axis which emphasizes its dramatic growth in the US. In the new graph, I placed GDP per Capita on the y-axis which emphasizes the growth in income in both countries. Take a look below at both versions and let me know which you prefer:

New Version: GDP per Capita on the y-axis {Click on the image to take a closer look}

Original Version: Population on the y-axis {Click on the image to take a closer look}

Data estimates for population from Angus Maddison Emeritus Professor, Faculty of Economics, University of Groningen.

[tags]population, income, United States, United Kingdom, Great Britain[/tags]

Real Gross National Income per Person

Catherine — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 00:14:07 +0000

A NYT article about the .01 Percent had a quote from Warren Buffet that caught my attention: “‘This is a significantly richer country than 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago,’ he declared, backing his assertion with a favorite statistic. The national income, divided by the population, is a very abundant $45,000 per capita, he said, a number that reflects an affluent nation but also obscures the lopsided income distribution intertwined with the prosperity.” This graph was an attempt to visualize that statistic. (Keep in mind that the numbers are in 2000 US$)

{Click on the graph to take a closer look}

The US Gross National Income (GNI) represents the total buying power of citizens of the United States. This buying power can be transferred around the economy by taxation and lending. GNI includes Wages and Salaries + Rents + Interest + Profits (also includes Depreciation of Capital + Sales taxes – Subsidies). Since it is “National” it measures income from resources owned by the citizens of the United States, regardless where the production occurs. Gross national income is identical to gross national product (GNP).

The Real GNI data can be found at Bureau of Economic Analysis National Economic Accounts Table 1.7.6. Population data can be found at Census Historical Series and Census Current Estimates .

[tags]income distribution, US income distribution, United States GNI, National Income[/tags]

NYTimes: Income Gap Is Widening, Data Shows

Catherine — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 02:12:19 +0000

The New York Times had an income graph in a Mar 29th article that reminded me of the Income/GDP post I made last October. The difference is that I was looking at the share of GDP going to the top 10% as compared to the bottom 90% rather than the share of individual income going to the top 1% and bottom 90%. However, both graphs rely on the IRS data collected by Saez and Piketty. One critique I had about their graphic: by using a different scale for the second graph (the average income for the early 2001-05) it was difficult to compare it to the larger graph. This means the relationship between the two graphs was not very clear.

[tags]income distribution, US income distribution, US income inequality, income inequality[/tags]

Unique Interactive Census Map

Catherine — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 14:27:23 +0000

The Social Explorer is one of the most unique presentation of Census data I have found on the web. It not only allows you to create maps of different Census data series but you can create slideshows on the fly (or create a report by selecting different locations on your map). Unfortunately I couldn’t find a way to save a slide show but here are some examples of the maps I made:

Median Household Income for the United States:

Median Household Income for Louisville, KY: