economy_household_income_distribution_county_year
ACS quintile thresholds (B19080), quintile means (B19081), Gini (B19083), and derived inequality metrics by county and vintage year (A2). Tier B.
tier —sample_estimate
overview
overview
3,222 counties. ACS B19080-B19083 covers all counties; small counties have wide MOE on quintiles.
current vintage — 2020-2024 ACS 5-Year
history — ACS Gini and quintile tables: 2009-2013 vintage to present
provenance
source & licensing
authority
U.S. Census Bureau
dataset
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates
source url
license
—
citation
U.S. Census Bureau. ACS 5-Year Estimates, Tables B19080 (quintile thresholds), B19081 (quintile means), B19083 (Gini), 2020-2024.
schema
fields
| name | type | definition |
|---|---|---|
| agg_income_share_top_5pct | float64 · share (0–1) | The fraction of total aggregate household income received by the top 5% of households by income. Higher values indicate greater concentration of income among the highest earners. |
| country_id | string | ISO alpha-2 country code (always 'US' for domestic tables). |
| county_idkey | string | 5-character FIPS code identifying the county.Joins dim.counties on county_id. |
| county_name | string | Human-readable county name corresponding to county_id. |
| gini_coefficient | float64 · index (0–1) | A summary measure of income inequality ranging from 0 (perfect equality) to 1 (maximum inequality), derived from the Lorenz curve of the household income distribution. Higher values indicate greater income inequality within the county. |
| mean_income_q1 | int64 · dollars (nominal) | Mean household income among households in the bottom income quintile (0–20th percentile). Used alongside other quintile means to characterize the full income distribution. |
| mean_income_q2 | int64 · dollars (nominal) | Mean household income among households in the second income quintile (20th–40th percentile). |
| mean_income_q3 | int64 · dollars (nominal) | Mean household income among households in the middle income quintile (40th–60th percentile). |
| mean_income_q4 | int64 · dollars (nominal) | Mean household income among households in the fourth income quintile (60th–80th percentile). |
| mean_income_q5 | int64 · dollars (nominal) | Mean household income among households in the top income quintile (80th–100th percentile). Higher values relative to lower quintiles indicate greater concentration of income at the top. |
| median_household_income | float64 · dollars (nominal) | The income level at which half of all households in the county earn more and half earn less, based on the ACS survey year. Higher values indicate greater typical household earnings. |
| p20_hh_income | int64 · dollars (nominal) | The 20th percentile of the household income distribution — 20% of households earn at or below this amount. Lower values indicate a compressed bottom of the income distribution. |
| p40_hh_income | int64 · dollars (nominal) | The 40th percentile of the household income distribution — 40% of households earn at or below this amount. |
| p60_hh_income | int64 · dollars (nominal) | The 60th percentile of the household income distribution — 60% of households earn at or below this amount. |
| p80_hh_income | int64 · dollars (nominal) | The 80th percentile of the household income distribution — 80% of households earn at or below this amount. Higher values indicate a higher income threshold separating the upper quintile from the rest. |
| state_id | string | 2-character FIPS code identifying the state.Joins dim.states on state_id. |
| top_to_bottom_quintile_mean_ratio | float64 · ratio | Ratio of mean income in the top quintile (Q5) to mean income in the bottom quintile (Q1), calculated as mean_income_q5 / mean_income_q1. Higher values indicate greater inequality between the richest and poorest households. |
| yearkey | int64 | Reference year of the observation. |
relationships
joins
primary key
county_id, year
common joins
dim.geographies on county_id
economy_personal_income_county_year on (county_id, year)
economy_tax_filer_income_county_year on (county_id, year)
usage
how to use this table
method
ACS sample-based household-income distribution. Quintile thresholds from B19080, quintile means from B19081, Gini from B19083. Pipeline computes top_to_bottom_quintile_mean_ratio = mean_q5 / mean_q1.
do not use for
Top-1% or top-5% shares (ACS is top-coded; agg_income_share_top_5pct stub is empty); single-year change in small counties; pre-tax-and-transfer inequality (this is post-tax-pre-transfer cash income only).
known issues
agg_income_share_top_5pct is currently empty (0% populated). ACS top-coding suppresses precise top-end income shares.
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last updated · May 5, 2026