The bar chart illustrates the distribution of households in the United States according to their annual income for the years 2007, 2011, and 2015.
Overall, while the lower and middle-income brackets exhibited a significant increase in household numbers over the years, the higher income categories experienced fluctuations before rising in 2015.
In the income range of $25,000-$49,999, there was a notable increase in the number of households from approximately 14 million in 2007, surging to 19 million in 2015. Similarly, the $50,000-$74,999 bracket also saw an upward trend, rising from around 10 million in 2007 to nearly 13 million in 2015. It is important to highlight that both these income categories consistently gained household numbers, reflecting a positive shift in middle-income earners within the stated period.
Conversely, the lower bracket of <$25,000 initially declined to approximately 10 million households in 2011 but rebounded significantly to 16 million by 2015, marking a 6 million increase since 2007. The $75,000-$99,999 and the $100,000 or more categories followed a similar trajectory; both experienced a downturn in 2011 but rebounded by 2015, with increases of 4 million and 7 million households respectively by comparison to their 2007 figures. This indicates a recovery in the higher income brackets after a period of decline.