How to Read BEA's Distribution of Personal Income — Income Shares, Gini Index and the 2025 Nowcast
BEA distribution of personal income, U.S. households: top 20% received 52.8% of personal income in provisional 2024 data (bottom 20%: 5.3%); experimental 2025 nowcast 52.7%.
Key figures (BEA distribution of personal income, provisional 2024 and 2025 nowcast)
As of 1 November 2026, 01:23 KST; most recent statistics: the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) distribution of personal income, with a provisional 2024 summary file (the file reads "Current Version: 2026" in cell A1 of its first sheet) and an experimental 2025 nowcast shown on BEA's page. The data page does not display a release or next-update date; BEA's June 16, 2026 blog post identifies the release date as the day of the latest national release. Primary source: https://www.bea.gov/data/special-topics/distribution-of-personal-income[1][2][3]
| Indicator (U.S. households, share of personal income, %) | Previous (2024, provisional; xlsx cell) | Current (2025, experimental nowcast on BEA's page) | Change vs previous (percentage points, this page's subtraction) | Change vs year ago: same as previous (annual series) | Evidence type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bottom 20% (Q1) share of personal income | 5.3 (C8 = 0.053) | 5.2 | -0.1 | same comparison | values: BEA primary statistical record (cells shown); change: this page's calculation |
| Second 20% (Q2) share | 9.5 (C9 = 0.095) | 9.6 | +0.1 | same comparison | values: BEA primary statistical record (cells shown); change: this page's calculation |
| Middle 20% (Q3) share | 13.4 (C10 = 0.134) | 13.4 | 0.0 | same comparison | values: BEA primary statistical record (cells shown); change: this page's calculation |
| Fourth 20% (Q4) share | 19.0 (C11 = 0.19) | 19.1 | +0.1 | same comparison | values: BEA primary statistical record (cells shown); change: this page's calculation |
| Top 20% (Q5) share | 52.8 (C12 = 0.528) | 52.7 | -0.1 | same comparison | values: BEA primary statistical record (cells shown); change: this page's calculation |
| Nominal personal income growth 2024-2025 (nowcast, %) | not applicable | Q1 4.1, Q2 5.8, Q3 5.0, Q4 5.4, Q5 4.6 | not applicable | same comparison | values: BEA primary statistical record (experimental) |
Comparison basis: 2024 shares come from BEA's provisional summary file (cells shown; 0.053 = 5.3%), and 2025 shares are the experimental nowcast printed on BEA's page, rounded to one decimal; differences are simple differences of the one-decimal shares shown, in percentage points (this page's calculation). Shares refer to total personal income with households ranked by equivalized income. Because the series is annual, the previous and year-ago columns are the same comparison. The page and file are both from BEA and count as one source.[1][2]
In three lines
1. BEA distributes the national personal income total to U.S. households and reports shares by income group, inequality measures and the income mix of each group.
2. In provisional 2024 data, the top 20% of households received 52.8% of personal income and the bottom 20% 5.3%; the Gini index for equivalized personal income was 0.455.
3. BEA's experimental 2025 nowcast puts the top 20% share at 52.7% and the bottom 20% at 5.2%.[1][2]
What BEA says (in BEA's words)
Provisional 2024. "The distribution of personal income release revises all previous years and provides provisional data for 2024." "Given the importance of providing timely data, extrapolations were made for several income sources with unavailable data to provide distributional estimates for 2024 (provisional summary file)." "Because the top 1 percent and top 5 percent income shares are substantially influenced by not-yet-available Statistics of Income source data for 2024, interval ranges are provided for these estimates."[1]
Experimental 2025. "To improve timeliness, BEA has developed an experimental nowcast for 2025 that balances user needs for relevance and accuracy." "Machine learning techniques analyze relationships between published annual distributions and current NIPA totals to generate timely estimates at the quintile level." BEA's June 16, 2026 post adds: "The release also includes experimental nowcast data on the distribution of U.S. personal income in 2025." "Provisional statistics are provided for 2024, pending the availability of more complete source data for that year."[1][3]
How shares are measured. The file's note (sheet 3, cell A20; repeated in sheet 1, cell A13) says: "All income shares and inequality metrics are calculated from households ranked by equivalized income and are identical for nominal and real measures." "Real numbers are in 2017 dollars." "The 90/10 ratio, the 80/20 ratio, and Gini index are calculated for equivalized income."[2]
Reading in pairs
Provisional vs nowcast. The 2024 shares are provisional estimates from BEA's summary file, while the 2025 shares are an experimental machine-learning nowcast; a 0.1-point difference between them is shown to one decimal and BEA's page does not describe it as a significant change.[1][2]
Ranges vs points. The top 1% share of personal income for 2024 is given as a range, 15.9% to 16.5% (cell C13), and the top 5% share as 29.7% to 30.3%, because source data were not yet available; other shares are single numbers.[2]
Mean vs median. Mean personal income per household was $184,537 in 2024 and the median $120,194 (cells C4 and C6); the mean is about 1.54 times the median (this page's calculation).[2]
Before vs after taxes. For disposable personal income (after taxes), the top 20% share is 49.7% and the Gini index 0.418 (cells D12 and D18), compared with 52.8% and 0.455 for personal income. BEA's table does not attribute the difference to specific taxes.[2]
Verified facts
Each fact is labelled with its evidence typeEach fact in this section carries its evidence type — either cross-checked against independent sources, or confirmed from a single authoritative record.
In BEA's provisional 2024 data, the top 20% of U.S. households received 52.8% of personal income and the bottom 20% received 5.3%.[2] 1 source · authoritative record
BEA's Gini index for equivalized U.S. personal income was 0.455 in provisional 2024 data, and 0.418 for disposable personal income.[2] 1 source · authoritative record
BEA gives the top 1% share of 2024 U.S. personal income as a range of 15.9% to 16.5%.[2] 1 source · authoritative record
BEA's experimental 2025 nowcast puts the top 20% share of U.S. personal income at 52.7%.[1] 1 source · authoritative record
Median U.S. household personal income was $120,194 in 2024 in BEA's provisional distribution data.[2] 1 source · authoritative record
Statements and readings
Not counted as facts — each item shows what kind of statement it isFrom here on: statements not counted as facts — single-source reports, the issuing body’s own statements, and this page’s own readings, each labeled.
Mean U.S. household personal income in 2024 ($184,537) was about 1.54 times the median ($120,194).[2] This page’s own calculation or reading · This page's calculation from BEA's 2024 summary file
The top 20% share of U.S. personal income is 52.8% in provisional 2024 data and 52.7% in the experimental 2025 nowcast.[1][2] This page’s own calculation or reading · This page's comparison of BEA's 2024 file and 2025 nowcast
Timeline
- 2026-06-16
BEA releases national distribution of personal income statistics with provisional 2024 data and an experimental 2025 nowcast.[3]
What this page could not establish
These are questions this page tried to answer and could not. The gaps are left open rather than filled with a guess.- When will BEA publish its next national distribution update?
- How accurate is the experimental 2025 nowcast?
- Model
- claude-opus-5
- Time
- 11/01/2026, 01:28
- Body characters
- 5,316
- Sources
- 3 sources adopted
- Model
- ChatGPT (checked sources on the web)
- Time
- 11/01/2026, 01:45
- Verdict
- Revision required
Show revision history (3)
| 11/01/2026, 09:00 | First authored (claude-opus-5) | Created |
| 11/01/2026 | First version. Read in full BEA's distribution of personal income data page, including the 2025 nowcast table and data notes, and every cell of the provisional 2024 inequality metrics summary file; quotations are complete sentences matched against the source text. | Updated |
| 11/01/2026 | Revised after review: the source note records retrieval time, hash and that all cells were read by program; the file note quotations cite their cells; the release date is taken from BEA's June 16, 2026 blog post, added as a source; the version label is cited from cell A1; quintile changes are described as simple differences of the one-decimal shares shown. | Updated |
Frequently asked
What share of U.S. personal income did the top 20% of households receive in 2024?
52.8% in BEA's provisional 2024 data (cell C12 = 0.528), with households ranked by equivalized income; the bottom 20% received 5.3%.[2]
What is BEA's 2025 nowcast for the U.S. income distribution?
An experimental 2025 estimate: top 20% share 52.7%, bottom 20% 5.2%, with nominal personal income growth of 4.1% for the bottom quintile and 4.6% for the top.[1]
Why is the top 1% share of 2024 U.S. personal income given as a range?
BEA gives 15.9% to 16.5% because the top 1% and top 5% shares depend heavily on Statistics of Income source data for 2024 that were not yet available.[1][2]
What was the Gini index for U.S. personal income in 2024 in BEA's data?
0.455 for equivalized personal income and 0.418 for equivalized disposable (after-tax) personal income, in provisional 2024 data.[2]
Are BEA's 2024 U.S. income distribution figures final?
No: BEA calls the 2024 data provisional, made with extrapolations for some income sources, and says each release revises all previous years.[1]