Income distribution
Published
1. Main facts and figures
- in the 3 years to April 2024, 75% of households from the Bangladeshi ethnic group were in the 2 lowest income quintiles (after housing costs were deducted) – the highest percentage out of all ethnic groups
- over half of households in each of the Asian Other (58%), Black (60%), Other (62%) and Pakistani (72%) ethnic groups were in the 2 lowest income quintiles
- 42% of White British households were in the 2 highest income quintiles – the highest percentage out of all ethnic groups
- 14% of households from the Bangladeshi ethnic group were in the 2 highest income quintiles – the lowest percentage
2. Things you need to know
What the data measures
The data measures how income is spread across UK households, by ethnicity.
Households are divided into 5 equally-sized groups (called ‘quintiles’). The lowest quintile, for example, contains the 20% of households with the lowest income.
Household income is the total income of the household before tax, National Insurance and other deductions. It includes the value of free school meals, free TV licences and other income-based entitlements.
The data measures income before and after housing costs have been paid. The figures shown in the chart and table are based on income after housing costs have been deducted. Housing costs include rent or mortgage payments and insurance.
The information relates to households of either one person or a group of people sharing cooking facilities and a living room or dining area. It must be their main or only home.
Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number. Due to this, some figures may not add up to 100%.
Not included in the data
Percentages based on fewer than 100 responses are not shown. This is to protect people’s confidentiality.
The ethnic groups used in the data
Data is aggregated for each of the Asian, Black, Mixed, White and Other ethnic groups, and estimates are shown for these groups as a whole using the ethnic categories from the 2011 Census.
For groups with big enough sample sizes, more detailed ethnic group breakdowns are also shown. Data is shown separately for the 5 Asian ethnic groups, the White British group, and for all other White groups combined (shown as ‘White other’, which includes the White Irish, Gypsy or Irish Traveller, and White other groups).
Ethnicity was unknown for a small number of people in the survey (fewer than 100 responses).
Some households contain people from different ethnic backgrounds. The ethnicity assigned to the household is that of the head of the household (usually the person with the highest income). The data does not account for people of different ethnic backgrounds who live in the same household.
Methodology
Read the detailed methodology document for the data on this page.
The data is an average for 3 years – for example, from April 2021 to March 2024. This is to make sure there are enough households to be able to make reliable generalisations. You can read more about combining multiple years of data and some of the issues involved. Due to the impact of COVID-19 on data collection and sample composition, data by ethnicity from April 2020 to March 2021 was not published. As a result, data between April 2018 and March 2023 is based on 2-year averages. Read more in technical report: assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on the HBAI statistics for FYE2021.
Confidence intervals have not been worked out, so comparisons between ethnic groups may not be reliable.
Household income has been adjusted (or ‘equivalised’) to take into account the number of adults and children who live there.
The figures are based on survey data. You can read more about:
- interpreting survey data
- how weighting is used to make survey results more representative of the whole population
In the data file
Download the data for figures:
- before and after housing costs
- with either 2-year or 3-year average from 2008 onwards
- by lowest to highest income quintiles
3. By ethnicity (after housing costs)
| Ethnicity | Percentage of individuals in bottom income quintile (lowest income) | Percentage of individuals in second income quintile | Percentage of individuals in third income quintile | Percentage of individuals in fourth income quintile | Percentage of individuals in top income quintile (highest income) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | % | |
| All | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 |
| Asian | 35 | 21 | 15 | 14 | 14 |
| Bangladeshi | 49 | 26 | 11 | 7 | 7 |
| Chinese | 33 | 15 | 12 | 12 | 28 |
| Indian | 25 | 16 | 18 | 21 | 20 |
| Pakistani | 44 | 28 | 13 | 8 | 7 |
| Asian other | 37 | 21 | 15 | 13 | 14 |
| Black | 38 | 22 | 15 | 17 | 8 |
| Mixed | 27 | 17 | 18 | 22 | 16 |
| White | 17 | 20 | 21 | 21 | 21 |
| White British | 17 | 20 | 21 | 21 | 21 |
| White other | 22 | 17 | 19 | 18 | 24 |
| Other | 42 | 20 | 15 | 11 | 12 |
| Unknown | N/A* | N/A* | N/A* | N/A* | N/A* |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity (after housing costs)’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity (after housing costs)’ (CSV)
4. Data sources
Source
Households below average income: for financial years ending 1995 to 2024
Type of data
Administrative and survey data
Type of statistic
National Statistics
Publisher
Department for Work and Pensions
Note on corrections or updates
Any 3-year estimates before the period from April 2012 to March 2015 may be different to the published Households Below Average Income tables due to a change in the ethnic groups shown.
Publication frequency
Yearly
Purpose of data source
Households Below Average Income is the main source of data about household income and inequality in the UK.
5. Download the data
This file contains the following variables: Measure, Time, Time_type, Ethnicity, Ethnicity_type, Geography, Geography_type, Income Quintile Distribution, Value, Denominator, Numerator, Note