The number of persons receiving the higher incomes is comparatively small. There were 270,666 incomes between $5,000 and $10,000; 30,391 between $10,000 and $25,000; 12,439 between $25,000 and $50,000. There were 432,662 returns (22 for each 1000 families in the United States) showing incomes of $5,000 or over; there were 161,996 returns (8 returns for each 1000 families) showing incomes of $10,000 or over; 49,494 showing incomes of $25,000 and over; 19,103 showing incomes of $50,000 and more. Thus the number of moderate and large incomes, compared with the total population of the country, was minute.
The portion of the report that is of particular interest, in so far as the present study is concerned, is that which presents a division of the total net income of those reporting $2,000 or more, into three classes—income from personal service, income from business profits and income from the ownership of property.
Personal Incomes by Sources—1917
| Amount of Income | Per Cent of Total Income | |
| Source | ||
| 1. Income from personal serv- ice; salaries, wages; com- mission, bonuses, director's fees, etc | $ 3,648,437,902 | 30.21 |
| 2. Income from business; busi- ness, trade, commerce, partnership, farming, and profits from sales of real estate, stocks, bonds, and other property | 3,958,670,028 | 32.77 |
| 3. Income from property; rents and royalties | 684,343,399 | 5.67 |
| Interest on bonds, notes, etc. | 936,715,456 | 7.76 |
| Dividends | 2,848,842,499 | 23.59 |
| Total from Property | 4,469,901,354 | 37.02 |
| 4. Total income | 12,077,009,284 | 100.00 |
Those persons who have incomes of $2,000 or more receive 30 cents on the dollar in the form of wages and salaries; 33 cents in the form of business profits, and 37 cents in the form of incomes from the ownership of property. The dividend payments alone—to this group of property owners, are equal to three quarters of the total returns for personal service.
These figures refer, of course, to all those in receipt of $2,000 or more per year. Obviously, the smaller incomes are in the form of wages, salaries, and business profits, while the larger incomes take the form of rent, interest and dividends. This is made apparent by a study of the detailed tables published in connection with the "Income Statistics for 1916."
Among those of small incomes—$5,000 to $10,000—nearly half of the income was derived from personal services. The proportion of the income resulting from personal service diminished steadily as the incomes rose until, in the highest income group—those receiving $2,000,000 or more per year, less than one-half of one per cent. was the result of personal service while more than 99 per cent. of the incomes came from property ownership.
A small portion of the American people are in receipt of incomes that necessitate a report to the revenue officers. Among those persons, a small number are in receipt of incomes that might be termed large—incomes of $10,000 or over, for example. Among these persons with large incomes the majority of the income is secured in the form of rent, interest, dividends and profits. The higher the income group, the larger is the percentage of the income that comes from property holdings.
The economic system that exists at the present time in the United States places a premium on property ownership. The recipients of the large incomes are the holders of the large amounts of property.