fourth quintile, 22.6%; and the top quintile, 52.2%. The final column of Table 15.5 shows what share of income

went to households in the top 5% of the income distribution: 23.0% in 2020. Over time, from the late 1960s to

the early 1980s, the top fifth of the income distribution typically received between about 43% to 44% of all

income. The share of income that the top fifth received then begins to rise. Census Bureau researchers trace,

much of this increase in the share of income going to the top fifth to an increase in the share of income going to

the top 5%. The quintile measure shows how income inequality has increased in recent decades.

Year

Lowest Quintile Second Quintile Third Quintile Fourth Quintile Highest Quintile Top 5%

1967

1970

1975

1980

1985

1990

1995

2000

4.0

4.1

4.3

4.2

3.9

3.8

3.7

3.6

10.8

10.8

10.4

10.2

9.8

9.6

9.1

8.9

17.3

17.4

17.0

16.8

16.2

15.9

15.2

14.8

24.2

24.5

24.7

24.7

24.4

24.0

23.3

23.0

43.6

43.3

43.6
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