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}

See also:
United States: 500 Years of Income and Population Growth
Comparing Population Growth: China, India, Africa, Latin America, Western Europe, United States
China: 2,000 Years of Income and Population Growth
Last 2,000 years of growth in world income and population
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]![]()
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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]
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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]
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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:

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I went back to my 2005 US Income Distribution graph and changed the scale to match the logarithmic scale used in Gapminder’s World income distribution 2003 graph which shows the historical income distribution from 1970-2000 for selected countries.
{Click on the graph to take a closer look}

See Also: Part 1 and Part 3
[tags]US Income Distribution, Gapminder, World Income, Census Income Distribution[/tags]
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More Census data! This time it is the U.S. income distribution for 2005 showing the number of households up to $250,000. (I have since added more graphs that include incomes above $250,000: 2005 US Income Distribution Part 2 and 2005 US Income Distribution Part 3)
{Click on the graph to take a closer look}

While the original Census data can be found in U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey Table HINC-06. Income Distribution to $250,000 or More for Households I needed to calculate the number of households in $10,000 increments for this graph. (That calculation can be found here: Census household income distribution. Besides the income distribution for 2005, I added 2004 as a bonus. It can be viewed by anyone with a Google Account.)
See Also: 2005 US Income Distribution Part 2 and 2005 US Income Distribution Part 3 for graphs of the rich and super rich. And United States’ Average Income since 1913 both with and without capital gains.
Addendum:
11/19/2006 Added upper limits of income quintiles and the median from Table H-1. Income Limits for Each Fifth and Top 5 Percent of Households
[tags]US Income Distribution, Income Distribution, Census Income Distribution[/tags]
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