US Pre-Tax Income Share of the Top 1% (WID)

## What this measures

The share of US pre-tax national income received by the top 1% of earners.

## Why it matters

Income concentration shapes who can save, invest and move up. The US top-1% share roughly doubled between 1980 and the 2010s.

## How to read it

Annual observations, dated December 31 of the reference year. Read the trend over five years or more; single-year changes are often revisions or methodology updates.

## What it does not say

WID combines tax data, surveys and national accounts; its most recent year is often carried forward until new tax data arrive.

## Source

World Inequality Database, processed by Our World in Data (chart `inequality-metrics-before-tax-wid`). License: CC BY 4.0. Our World in Data processing is CC BY 4.0.