# Why can’t I find this graph?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-t-i-find-this-graph/381195>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 20, 2006, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-t-i-find-this-graph/381195 "2006-11-20T19:40:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![jebert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ec9cab/32.png) [@jebert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jebert)\
**Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-t-i-find-this-graph/381195/1 "2006-11-20T19:40:42Z")

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It sems like so simple a graph to construct, but I don’t seem to be able to find it despite looking at a number of sites.

I want to see a graph of US income distribution, that is, a graph showing a bar with the number of people or households with income between 0 and $10K, between $10K and $20K, between $20K and $30K, and so on. This data would be immediately available from the IRS by graphing the distribution of numbers shown on line 36 of Form 1040 for all the returns filed.

Does anyone know where to find this information?

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**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\
**Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-t-i-find-this-graph/381195/2 "2006-11-20T19:47:00Z")

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Like [this](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/2/23/Income_Strata_2005.jpg/300px-Income_Strata_2005.jpg)?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\
**Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-t-i-find-this-graph/381195/3 "2006-11-20T19:52:04Z")

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And the Wikipedia [article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_States) that graph comes from has others you might find useful as well. For instance, [this one](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/63/Income-curve-%2410k.jpg/400px-Income-curve-%2410k.jpg) shows the breakdown in $10,000 increments as in your OP.