Summary

Recreating and raw data

The following should allow others to recreate the graph using gnuplot 4.2 or later.

The data file entitled "income-distribution-data" is as follows:

# Data:#   https://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/histinc/f01AR.html#   https://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.census.gov%2Fhhes%2Fwww%2Fincome%2Fhistinc%2Ff01AR.html&date=2009-04-12# Footnotes:#   https://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/histinc/ftnotes.html# archive copy at the Wayback Machine# # Historical Income Tables - Families #  Table F-1. Income Limits for Each Fifth and Top 5 Percent of#  Families (All Races):  1947 to 2007##  (Families as of March of the following year.  Income in current#  and 2007 CPI-U-RS adjusted dollars 28/)#  #  Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplements.# # The following data is always the 2007 CPI-U-RS adjusted dollars.#Year "Number"    20%      40%      60%      80%      95%2007   77908    27864    49510    75000   112638   1972162006   78454    27766    48333    73220   112246   1964802005   77418    27206    47816    72545   109501   1959552004   76866    27192    47640    72248   109769   1906032003   76232    27189    47413    73278   110707   1917442002   75616    27661    47761    72610   108879   1893882001   74340    28108    48166    73197   110264   1921912000   73778    28897    49173    73837   110017   1927901999   73206    28367    49143    73754   109547   1929041998   71551    27439    47882    71164   106318   1844521997   70884    26516    46371    69061   103046   1765691996   70241    25897    45155    67224    99109   1684361995   69597    25762    44560    66175    97618   1670511994   69313    24819    43302    65023    96840   1660751993   68506    23978    42390    63627    94379   1599251992   68216    24199    42966    63709    92740   1534981991   67173    25239    43219    63840    93519   1526571990   66322    25907    44666    64652    94564   1574141989   66090    25837    45207    65873    96145   1597791988   65837    25435    44095    64841    94156   1549461987   65204    25488    43967    64254    93113   1518121986   64491    25270    43500    63391    91278   1505351985   63558    24413    42057    60922    88628   1451111984   62706    23902    41577    60223    86604   1417961983   62015    23416    40107    58318    83390   1372391982   61393    23516    40274    57661    82731   1347411981   61019    24095    41016    58533    82688   1312331980   60309    24916    41950    59415    83372   1317661979   59550    26247    43160    61145    84195   1350711978   57804    25690    43167    60433    84000   1331751977   57215    24933    41754    59030    81333   1288751976   56710    24867    41414    57606    79561   1250471975   56245    24483    40314    56064    77625   1215901974   55698    25433    41553    57176    78980   1240521973   55053    25365    41854    58397    80309   1252001972   54373    24874    41221    56977    78718   1233781971   53296    23789    39389    53988    74039   1156141970   52227    24303    39647    53843    74009   1155581969   51586    25000    40000    54000    73755   1135151968   50823    23733    38128    52021    69988   1075411967   50111    22303    36611    49095    67305   1081441966   49214    22026    35812    47931    65154   1007541965   48509    20147    33748    45531    62166    960991964   47956    18995    32145    43834    59620    922731963   47540    18341    30805    42263    59058    897151962   47059    18018    30030    40840    57056    894881961   46418    16984    29237    39791    54804    885601960   45539    17057    29408    38991    53915    829321959   45111    16670    28426    37866    52182    797061958   44232    15884    26940    35912    48971    753401957   43696    16051    27315    36088    48417    741511956   43497    16244    27338    36267    49173    762121955   42889    15029    25578    34388    46575    717611954   41951    13554    23841    32276    44220    700751953   41202    14539    24673    33108    44588    693421952   40832    14048    22725    30744    41583    646981951   40578    13608    22186    29349    40073    628021950   39929    12488    21473    28578    39720    647721949   39303    11746    20067    27070    38253    614021948   38624    12443    20458    27315    38104    620501947   37237    12862    20755    28144    39934    65545

The files "commands is as follows:

set terminal svg size 1000 400 enhanced fname "Arial" fsize 18set grid back lw 1set border 3set logscale yset format y "%6.0f"set yrange [10000:500000]set ytics nomirror 10000,2,500000set xtics nomirrorset key top left Left reverse width -8 spacing 0.8 samplen 1set ylabel "Income in 2007 US$" font "Arial,24"set size ratio 0.4# Skipping linetype (lt) 4; it's cyan and not very dark against white backgrounds.plot \ "income-distribution-data" using 1:7 with lines lw 2 lt 6 title "{/Arial=15 95th percentile}",\ "income-distribution-data" using 1:6 with lines lw 2 lt 5 title "{/Arial=15 80th percentile}",\ "income-distribution-data" using 1:5 with lines lw 2 lt 3 title "{/Arial=15 60th percentile}",\ "income-distribution-data" using 1:4 with lines lw 2 lt 2 title "{/Arial=15 40th percentile}",\ "income-distribution-data" using 1:3 with lines lw 2 lt 1 title "{/Arial=15 20th percentile}"

To create the graph, the follow command was used:

gnuplot < commands > out.svg

Licensing

I, the copyright holder of this work, release this work into the public domain. This applies worldwide. In some countries this may not be legally possible; if so: I grant anyone the right to use this work for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law.