Per capita income can be used to determine the average per-person income for an area and to evaluate the standard of living and quality of life of the population. Per capita income for a nation is calculated by dividing the country's national income by its population.

When Should per capita be used?

What Is Per Capita? Per capita is a Latin term that translates to "by head." Per capita means the average per person and is often used in place of "per person" in statistical observances. The phrase is used with economic data or reporting but is also applied to almost any other occurrence of population description.

How do you calculate per capita?

Divide the metric by the number of people in the population to get your per capita figure. For instance, if 500 citizens in a town earn a total of $12,500,000 in annual salary, the per capita annual income for the town is $25,000.