Source: The Right Data. Edwin S. Rubenstein. National Review Press, page 205, 1994. New York, N.Y. ISBN: 0-9627841-3-3.

By quintile and top 5%
Constant 1990 dollars
Year	Lowest	Second	Third	Fourth	Highest	Top 5%
1977	7193	17,715	29,287	42,911	76,522	117,023
1980	6836	17,015	28,077	41,364	73,752	110,213
1989	7372	18,341	30,488	46,177	90,150	145,651
1990	7195	18,030	29,781	44,901	87,137	138,756

Notice the drop 1977-80 and the drop 1989-90. And why critics of Reagan so desperately want to use 1977-90 as a comparison time frame. To paraphrase one of the great deceivers "Bush and Carter are no Ronald Reagan".

The 1980's or The Reagan Era?

See also the latest figures from the Census Bureau for historical tables for family income.
Looking at the table from "The Right Data" above does show some differences with the "official" Census Bureau data (other than CPIing to a different year for the "constant dollars"). Looks like there is some room to "adjust/correct" the "Facts".

Look at Census: Table F-3.
Using the Census data: if the exact decade of 1980-90 is used, there is a gain for every quintile except the botton one: 4 out of 5 gain.

But then notice that if we look at the Reagan years (1981-89), the data shows that even the bottom quintile gained. And this in "CPI constant dollars"; of course they all gained more in "Boskinized" dollars.

And excellect discussions of the falling wages problem, by The Grinch
and by Edward Flaherty

Is the Middle Class Shrinking?

Are Americans Working More than Ever?

Things Have Been Going Downhill for HOW Long?

Are Houses More Expensive?

Working Wives, Wages, & "The Feminine Mystique"

Falling Wages and Rising Debt?

The Rising Tide: Quintile Limits and the Bottom 20%

Note my usual objection to this kind of data: the PEOPLE in each of quintiles are not the same in 1990 as in 1980. Many/most at the bottom in 1980 have moved up by 1990 and been "replaced" by younger people and poor immigrants. Many in the upper quintiles have retired or died.

In short, the picture is actually better than the numbers in that table indicate. See "Income Mobility" on my web page.

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