Explaining Analytical Methods
- Report
An Update About How Inflation Has Affected Households at Different Income Levels Since 2019
CBO focused on households’ consumption of a bundle of typical goods and services from 2019 to compare purchasing power in 2019 with that in 2023. On average, purchasing power increased, but the effects of inflation varied by income group.
- Report
The Distribution of Household Income in 2020
In 2020, the coronavirus pandemic and the ensuing federal response had significant effects on the distribution of household income. Income inequality before transfers and taxes increased, but inequality after transfers and taxes decreased.
- Working Paper
Current Work on the Distributional Analysis of Household Income Resulting From Policy Changes: Working Paper 2022-09
This paper introduces a standardized framework to analyze how policy changes alter the distribution of household income to complement CBO’s analyses of policy changes’ budgetary and economic effects.
- Report
How Inflation Has Affected Households at Different Income Levels Since 2019
CBO examines how inflation has affected households at different income levels and compares inflation since 2019 with the growth in household income over the same period.
- Report
The Distribution of Major Tax Expenditures in 2019
CBO examined how the benefits from major tax expenditures in the individual income tax and payroll tax systems were distributed among households in different income groups in 2019.
- Working Paper
Distributional Effects of Reducing Carbon Dioxide Emissions With a Carbon Tax: Working Paper 2021-11
This paper describes CBO’s method for measuring the distributional effects of a tax on carbon emissions and the agency’s rationale for choosing that method, while also comparing it with CBO’s prior method and methods used by other researchers.
- Report
The Distribution of Household Income, 2018
In 2018, average household income after accounting for means-tested transfers and federal taxes was $37,700 among households in the lowest quintile and $243,900 among households in the highest quintile.
- Working Paper
Revisiting the Extent to Which Payroll Taxes Are Passed Through to Employees: Working Paper 2021-06
This working paper combines theory and existing empirical evidence to revisit the extent to which payroll taxes are passed through to employees. The estimates rely on stylized models and are complemented by a discussion of the empirical literature on payroll tax incidence.
- Report
The Distribution of Household Income, 2017
In 2017, average household income before accounting for means-tested transfers and federal taxes was $21,300 for the lowest quintile and $309,400 for the highest quintile. After transfers and taxes, those averages were $35,900 and $229,700.
- Presentation
How CBO Adjusts for Underreporting of Means-Tested Transfers in Its Distributional Analyses
Presentation by Bilal Habib, an analyst in CBO’s Tax Analysis Division, to the Bureau of Economic Analysis Advisory Committee.