An income calculator
How Rich Are You, Really?
Not compared to your neighbours, your colleagues, or the people you follow online — compared to everyone alive. Enter what your household earns and the ledger will tell you where that actually sits, adjusted for what money buys where you live.
Statement of Position
— global income ledger —
You out-earn roughly — of the 8.2 billion people alive.
The whole world, poorest to richest
What it is, elsewhere
— thank you for your custom —
About This Tool
Almost nobody knows where they sit in the world's income distribution, because almost nobody is ever shown it. We calibrate against the people immediately around us — the street, the office, the feed — and that local sample is a terrible guide to the global one.
This tool does the arithmetic properly. It converts what you earn into international dollars, which adjust for the fact that the same money buys wildly different amounts in different countries, divides by the number of people your household supports, and places the result on a curve built from World Bank figures. The answer is usually a surprise in one direction or the other.
How To Use It
- Pick your country. This sets the purchasing power adjustment, not just the currency symbol.
- Enter your total household income before tax, in your own currency.
- Say how many people live on it. A given income means something very different for one person than for five.
- Read the ledger. The percentile is the headline, but the "what it is, elsewhere" lines are where the scale of the gap becomes concrete.
Why This Exists
Because the single most important fact about anyone's economic life — which side of the global divide they were born on — is the one thing they are least likely to have ever seen quantified. The gap between countries is far larger than the gap within almost any of them, which is why a middle income in a wealthy country often lands in the global top ten per cent.
Two things can be true at once, and it is worth saying plainly: your position on this curve can be very high and your month can still be genuinely difficult. Rent, childcare and healthcare are priced against the people around you, not against the world. This tool measures one thing accurately, and it is not a verdict on your life.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is my global position calculated?
Your household income is converted from your local currency into international dollars, divided by the number of people it supports, and then placed on a curve of the global income distribution. The curve is anchored to published World Bank figures, including a global median of about 10.70 international dollars per person per day.
What is an international dollar?
It is a unit that has been adjusted for what money actually buys in each country, using purchasing power parity. A dollar goes much further in India than in Switzerland, so comparing raw exchange rates would be meaningless. International dollars compare living standards rather than currencies.
Why does it ask for household size?
Because an income of a given size supports a very different standard of living for one person than for a family of five. The global distribution is measured per person, so the calculation divides your household income by the number of people living on it.
How accurate is the result?
It is a good estimate rather than a precise measurement. The purchasing power conversion factors are approximate and change over time, and household surveys are known to undercount the very richest people, so positions above roughly the 99th percentile are the least reliable part of the curve.
Why does a high global percentile not feel rich?
Because your costs are local while the comparison is global. Rent, childcare, healthcare and transport are priced against the people around you, not against the world. Being in the global top ten per cent and finding the month difficult are not contradictory, and both can be true at once.
Is my income stored or sent anywhere?
No. The entire calculation happens in your browser. Nothing you type is uploaded, stored, or shared with anyone, and it disappears the moment you close the tab.
More Games & Tools You'll Love
Guess How Big →
Another calibration failure worth measuring: your instinct for the true size of famous things.
The Weight of Everything →
Scale on a different axis entirely — scroll from a grain of pollen up to the Moon.