The bar chart illustrates the yearly income distribution of U.S. households in three separate years; 2007, 2011 and 2015. The income range is divided into five brackets, starting from less than $25,000 to over 100,000.
From an overall perspective, while the number of households which earned $50,000 to $74,999 or $75,000 to $99,999 per year remained unchanged across all three years, those earning less than $25,000 or $25,000 to $49,999 increased from 2007 despite a slight drop in 2015. It is evident that the number of households in the U.S. that earned over 100,000 a year showed an increasing trend throughout the periods in spite of a negligible fall in 2011.
Regarding the lowest income brackets, the figures for families whose income was less than $25,000 or between $25,000 to $49,999 per year, started at 25 million and 27 million, respectively, in 2007. These figures increased by around 4 million in 2011 but experienced a slight drop in 2015, ending at 27 million and 28 million respectively. In terms of households with middle-range annual incomes, around 21 million families earned $50,000 to $74,999, with 14 million households earning $75,000 to $99,999. While the former remained relatively constant until 2015 at 21 million, the latter rose to 15 million by 2015 despite an insignificant drop to 13 million in 2011.
Turning to the highest income range, over $100,000, the figures started at 29 million in 2007, representing the largest group among all income ranges. After the figures experienced a minimal drop to 27 million in 2011, the number of households in that category recovered and reached 33 million by 2015, making it the largest proportion of all annual income brackets. While the difference between families earning the lowest annual income and those earning the highest annual income was 4 million in 2007, the difference became much more significant, with the gap of almost 6 million by 2015.