Income inequality gap widened to record highs in 2019

If your household has an income of more than $200,000 per year, it was always in the top 10% — until 2019.

By the numbers: New data from the Census Bureau shows that the gap between the richest and everybody else widened to record highs in 2019.

• The minimum amount a household needed to earn to get into the top 10% of households, in 2019 dollars, was $201,150 last year — up 7.2% from 2018.
• The median household income was $68,703.

The bottom line: Real incomes for the top 10% grew by $13,519 in a single year. Real median household income has grown by roughly the same amount — $14,377 — since 1978.