Income Mobility of the Top One Percent

Jeff Larrimore and David Splinter

No 2026-015, Finance and Economics Discussion Series from Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.)

Abstract: Circulation into and out of the top one percent is pronounced in the U.S. One third exit after a year and two-thirds exit after a decade. This mobility lowers top income shares when shifting from annual to multi-year income measures. Intragenerational mobility over two decades lowers recent top one percent fiscal income shares by over 10 percent. Two-decade mobility reduces top 0.1% shares by over 20 percent, top 0.01% shares by 30 percent, and top 0.001% shares by 40 percent. Effects of variability on wealth inequality are similar in magnitude, although more modest as a share of top wealth inequality.

Keywords: wealth; distribution; personal income; wage inequality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D31 D63 H20 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 32 p.
Date: 2026-03-06
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:fip:fedgfe:102904

DOI: 10.17016/FEDS.2026.015

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