Income & Wealth
Your annual income on the global distribution, in USD, EUR, GBP or NOK. The world median is about $4,380 a year (2017 PPP); $33,500 puts you in the top 10%.
All figures are in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms, adjusted for what money buys in each country.
You earn more than
93%
of the world's population
Your position
Global income ladder
Why PPP matters:$50,000 in Norway buys less than $50,000 in India. PPP-adjusted income compares what money buys (a Big Mac, a month's rent), which makes cross-country comparisons meaningful.
In context
The world's richest 1% own more wealth than the bottom 50% combined. But income inequality within countries has been falling in much of the developing world, even as it rises in the US and UK. The global median income has roughly doubled since 2000, and 1.2 billion people have left extreme poverty in 25 years. Your position on this ladder shifts dramatically depending on whether you compare to your country or to the world.
Reference tables: average income in United States and average income by country.
Related tests
About this test
Enter what you earn per year or per hour in USD, EUR, GBP or NOK. The module converts to US dollars and places the figure on the global income distribution from the World Bank's Poverty and Inequality Platform, expressed in 2017 purchasing-power-parity dollars.
The distribution is log-normal and very wide. The global median is about $4,380 a year. $16,800 puts you in the top 20% of the world, $33,500 in the top 10%, $55,000 in the top 5% and $140,000 in the top 1%. A typical salary in a rich country is a global outlier.
What is the median income in the world?
About $4,380 a year per person in 2017 PPP dollars, from the World Bank PIP breakpoints the module uses. Half the world lives on less than $12 a day. The bottom 10% live on under $870 a year.
What income is the top 1% globally?
About $140,000 a year in PPP terms. The top 5% starts near $55,000 and the top 10% near $33,500. The module treats your input as PPP-adjusted, so the comparison is approximate.
Why does the module use PPP?
$50,000 buys more in India than in Norway. PPP adjusts for what money buys locally, so two people with the same PPP income have similar living standards wherever they are. The breakpoints are from pip.worldbank.org.
Percentiles above come from the same parameters the Income & Wealth module uses. See the methodology for how they are calculated.