Countries in North America by income inequality (gini)
The Gini index of household income or consumption: 0 if everyone had the same, 100 if one household had everything. Household surveys are rare in some countries, so figures up to ten years old are shown. 14 countries in North America, highest first. World Bank, mostly 2024
Median country
42.2
half above, half below| # | Country | Gini | Year | Region |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Panama | 49.7 | 2024 | Central America |
| 2 |  Honduras | 45.7 | 2024 | Central America |
| 3 |  Costa Rica | 45.5 | 2025 | Central America |
| 4 |  Guatemala | 45.2 | 2023 | Central America |
| 5 |  Grenada | 43.8 | 2018 | Caribbean |
| 6 |  Saint Lucia | 43.7 | 2015 | Caribbean |
| 7 |  Mexico | 42.6 | 2024 | Central America |
| 8 |  United States | 41.8 | 2024 | Northern America |
| =9 |  Belize | 39.9 | 2018 | Central America |
| =9 |  Jamaica | 39.9 | 2021 | Caribbean |
| 11 |  El Salvador | 39.8 | 2023 | Central America |
| 12 |  Dominican Republic | 39.0 | 2024 | Caribbean |
| 13 |  Barbados | 34.1 | 2016 | Caribbean |
| 14 |  Canada | 31.5 | 2022 | Northern America |
No World Bank figure for 9 countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Cuba, Dominica, Haiti, Nicaragua, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago.
Questions
- Which country in North America has the most unequal incomes?
- Panama has the most unequal incomes in North America: a Gini index of 49.7 (2024). Next come Honduras (a Gini index of 45.7) and Costa Rica (a Gini index of 45.5).
- Which country in North America has the most equal incomes?
- Canada, with a Gini index of 31.5 (2022).
- What is the typical income inequality (gini) of a country in North America?
- The median of the 14 countries in North America is a Gini index of 42.2: half are above it, half below. The median, not the average, because a few countries at the top would drag an average far above almost everyone.
- Where do the figures come from?
- The Gini index of household income or consumption: 0 if everyone had the same, 100 if one household had everything. Household surveys are rare in some countries, so figures up to ten years old are shown. Source: World Bank, mostly 2024. Only independent states are ranked; territories are listed separately. A country’s continent follows Natural Earth; the handful of island states it files under the open ocean are placed by their UN subregion.
Source: World Bank (CC BY 4.0). Figures more than 10 years older than the newest are left out rather than shown beside current ones. Countries sharing a value share a rank. All sources.