Income Inequality

The top 20% of income earners own disproportionate amounts of all income. 

 

Income inequality harms health and exacerbates health disparities by sustaining higher rates of poverty, increasing chronic stress, and decreasing social cohesion among communities. While higher income is associated with greater life expectancy, lower incomes decrease one’s ability to prevent and cope with health concerns. Two ways to measure income inequality are: 1) the difference in the percent of total income owned by the top and bottom 20% of income earners, and 2) racial inequities in median household income. 

In King County, the top 20% of income earners made an average of $398,619 in 2021 while the bottom 20% made $21,462. In Washington, the top 20% made an average of $294,454 while the bottom 20% made an average of $18,741. In the United States overall, the top and bottom 20% made an average of $253,601 and $14,539, respectively. 

  • In 2021, 51.7% of all income in King County was owned by the top 20% of income earners. This is 19 times more than the income owned by the bottom 20% of income earners in King County (2.8%). 

  • Among all Washington state counties, King County ranked 4th in highest income inequality in 2017-2021, with the top 20% owning 50.7% of all income in the county. 

  • The share of income owned by the top 20% in King County has grown from 49.3% in 2010 to 51.7% in 2021. In Washington, the top 20% owned 47.7% of all income in 2010 and 50.6% in 2021. 

  • Asian-headed ($127,469) and white-headed ($110,701) households had median incomes higher than the King County average ($106,326). Households headed by American Indian and Alaska Native ($55,640), Black/African American ($57,027), Hispanic/Latino ($74,271), Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander ($76,212), and multiple race ($90,099) people, as well as people of other races ($65,033) had median household incomes that were lower than the King County average. 

NOTES & SOURCES 

Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 

To learn more about the American Community Survey and view the data biography, click here. 

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