Income Percentile Calculator
See roughly where a yearly household income sits among all households in the United States. Enter an income and you get a percentile, which is the share of households that earn less.
It compares households, not single earners. Everyone in the home who has income counts together.
- Free
- Works offline after your first visit
- Saves on this device
- No sign-up
- Updated
How it works
The Census Bureau publishes the income level that splits US households into five equal groups, plus the median and the cut-off for the top 5 percent. Those points are the 20th, 40th, 50th, 60th and 80th percentiles, and the 95th.
The calculator draws a straight line between those published points and reads your percentile off it. Between two points the real curve bends a little, so the answer is a close estimate rather than an exact rank. Income is money income before tax, as the Census Bureau counts it.
Worked example
A household income of $95,000.00 is above about 53 percent of US households, and below about 47 percent.
Questions
Is this my personal percentile?
No. The data is for whole households, so a couple with two incomes is counted as one. A single person with the same income would rank differently against other single people.
Does it include benefits and taxes?
The income counted is money income before taxes. It includes wages, interest, Social Security and pensions. It leaves out non-cash help.
Why not an exact figure?
Only a few points on the curve are published in this form. The answer comes from a straight line between them, so treat it as a guide of a few points either way.
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