Income is classified as a continuous variable in statistics. This means it can take on an infinite number of values within a given range. For example, someone’s annual income can be any value such as $30,000, $30,500, $30,543.75, and so on. Unlike categorical variables, which can only belong to specific categories, continuous variables like income can be measured more precisely.
Moreover, income can also be seen as a ratio variable since it has a true zero point (an income of $0 indicates no earnings) and allows for a meaningful comparison of ratios. For instance, we can say that an individual earning $60,000 has twice the income of one earning $30,000.
Understanding the type of variable income represents is crucial for selecting the appropriate statistical methods for analysis and making meaningful interpretations of the data.