per capita

American  

[per kap-i-tuh] / pər ˈkæp ɪ tə /

adjective

1. by or for each individual person.

   income per capita.

2. Law. noting or pertaining to a method of dividing an estate by which all those equally related to the decedent take equal shares individually without regard to the number of lines of descent.

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per capita British  

/ pə ˈkæpɪtə /

adjective

1. of or for each person

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per capita Cultural  

1. A Latin phrase literally meaning “by heads,” and translated as “for each person.” It is a common unit for expressing data in statistics. A country's per capita personal income, for example, is the average personal income per person.

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Etymology

Origin of per capita

1675–85; < Latin: literally, by heads

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

per capita

Discontent with our current healthcare system, which costs twice as much per capita as some other developed countries for materially worse outcomes, is not only a Democratic issue.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026

People in Saxony-Anhalt would "lose around 1,600 euros in annual per capita income on average," he wrote.

From Barron's ● Sep. 1, 2026

Banner-University Medical Center anchors an excellent healthcare system that features a high ratio of primary-care doctors per capita.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026

India's per capita income crossed $2,000 in 2019, a threshold beyond which discretionary spending tends to grow exponentially, according to Redseer, a business consultancy.

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026

Baltimore City residents increasingly bled into it, exchanging the city for the county’s spacious neighborhoods, quality schools, and higher per capita income.

From "The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates" by Wes Moore