Vocabulary

What do the words in bold below mean? Make some notes on paper to aid memory and then check below.

The bar chart details the total number of households in the United States categorized by average annual income from the year 2007 to 2015. Looking from an overall perspective, it is readily apparent that there were rising trends for all income brackets with the exception of those earning in the middle, which was stable. The greatest increase and the highest proportion by the end belonged to those earning the most.

In 2007, those with annual compensations under $25,000 numbered just over 25 million, a figure considerably higher than $50,000-$74,999 (21 million) and $75,000-99,999 (14 million) but beneath those earning $25,000-$49,999 (27 million) and over $100,000 (29 million). Four years later, there was a decline for the wealthiest homes to 26 million, the next wealthiest to 14 million and noticeable rises of around 3 million for the lower income brackets. Only the middle-income group was unchanged throughout the surveyed time period.

By 2015, the number of very wealthy households had surged to 33 million while the two lowest earning demographics fell slightly by about a million each to finish around 26 million. There was a moderate rise for the second highest earning households to end the period at precisely 15 million in total.