Individual Income Quartiles

Individual income quartiles group people aged 15 years and over into four evenly sized income ranges so the distribution of personal income can be compared objectively across areas and over time. The quartile method focuses on relative position in the income distribution rather than raw dollar brackets.

This topic is useful because direct income amounts are affected by inflation and wider economic change. Quartiles provide a clearer way to compare whether an area is becoming relatively lower, middle, or higher income over time.

Interpretation notes

• This is a derived distribution of personal income for people aged 15 years and over, with each quartile representing a quarter of the income distribution.
• Quartiles show relative position rather than fixed dollar brackets, which makes them more robust for comparisons over time.