Tools Global Income Percentile
How rich am I compared to the rest of the world?
Most income rankings compare you with your own country. This one compares you with everyone. Pick your country, enter your household’s yearly income in your own currency, and see the share of the world’s people who live on less, from the World Bank’s Poverty and Inequality Platform.
Your result
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How this calculator works
Daily income per person = household income ÷ people ÷ 365 ÷ price change since 2021 ÷ 2021 PPP factor
The World Bank’s Poverty and Inequality Platform combines more than 2,000 household surveys into one picture of how the world’s people live. For any daily amount per person, it says what share of the world lives on less. Asking at many amounts, from 50 cents to $1,000 a day, traces the whole distribution, and the calculator places your household on it.
To compare across countries, the platform measures everything in international dollars at 2021 prices: money that buys the same goods and services in every country. The calculator turns your income into those units in three steps. It divides by the number of people in your household, because the surveys count income per person. It takes out the inflation in your country since 2021, from its consumer price index. Then it divides by your country’s 2021 purchasing power parity (PPP) factor for household spending, the same factor the World Bank uses.
Two things to keep in mind. Many countries, especially lower-income ones, measure what households spend rather than what they earn, so the world distribution mixes income and consumption; enter your income after tax for the closest match. And the ranking is about income, not wealth. There is no official household survey of wealth for the whole world, so for what you own, use the net worth percentile, which compares households in the United States.
Words you’ll see
- Global income percentile
- The share of the world’s people who live on less than you do per person. The 90th percentile means you are in the top 10%.
- International dollar
- An imaginary currency that buys in any country what one U.S. dollar bought in the United States in 2021.
- Purchasing power parity (PPP)
- A conversion rate that makes money buy the same basket of goods and services in each country.
- World median
- The daily income per person that splits the world in half: half of all people live on less, half on more.
- Extreme poverty line
- The World Bank’s international poverty line, $3.00 a day per person in 2021 international dollars since June 2025.
Common questions
Where does a $50,000 income rank in the world?
A single adult in the United States with $50,000 a year after tax lives on about 118 international dollars a day, more than about 98% of the world’s people: the top 2.3%. A family of four on $80,000 lives on about 47 international dollars a day each, in the top 12%.
How much do you need to earn to be in the top 1% of the world?
The world’s top 1% starts at about 164 international dollars a day per person. For one adult in the United States today that is about $69,218 a year after tax, and for a family of four about $276,871.
What is the world median income?
Half of the world’s people live on less than about 9.21 international dollars a day per person. In the United States today that is about $3,892 a year for one person. About 10% of the world lives below the extreme poverty line of $3.00 a day.
Why does this measure income and not wealth?
The World Bank builds its global picture from household surveys of income and spending, which exist for almost every country. No official source surveys household wealth for the whole world, so a global wealth rank would rest on estimates. For wealth, the net worth percentile compares you with U.S. households from the Federal Reserve’s survey.
Why does household size matter?
The surveys count income per person, so the calculator divides your household’s income by everyone who shares it, children included. The same $60,000 is 4 times as much per person for one adult as for a family of four.
Where do the numbers come from?
The world distribution is from the World Bank’s Poverty and Inequality Platform for 2024, the latest year based on surveys, in 2021 international dollars. Each country’s 2021 PPP factor for household consumption and its consumer price index come from the World Bank’s World Development Indicators.
Sources
- Poverty and Inequality Platform (PIP), World Bank
- June 2025 Update to Global Poverty Lines, World Bank
- PPP conversion factor, private consumption (LCU per international $), World Bank, World Development Indicators
- Consumer price index (2010 = 100), World Bank, World Development Indicators
This tool is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not financial, tax, or legal advice. Consult a qualified professional for guidance specific to your situation.