IELTS Academic Writing Task 1: US Household Income Bar Chart (Band 9 Sample)
This Academic Task 1 asks you to summarise a bar chart showing the number of US households, in millions, across five income brackets in 2007, 2011 and 2015. A band-9 response gives a clear overview and reports the key figures and comparisons accurately. Below is a model answer of roughly 190 words, followed by why it scores 9 on all four criteria.
Get your own IELTS essay graded by AI
Band scores on all four criteria, line-by-line corrections and a model rewrite — free to start.
01 · The task
The chart below shows the number of households in the US, in millions, by their annual income in 2007, 2011 and 2015. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
02 · Band 9 sample answer
191 words · Band 9The bar chart compares the number of households in the United States, measured in millions, across five annual-income brackets in the years 2007, 2011 and 2015.
Overall, the two lowest income brackets and the highest bracket contained the most households throughout the period, whereas the $75,000–99,999 group was consistently the smallest. The most notable change was a marked rise in the number of the highest earners by 2015.
In each year, households earning $100,000 or more were among the largest groups, growing from around 29 million in 2007 to a clear peak of roughly 33 million in 2015. The two lowest brackets were similarly numerous: those earning under $25,000 rose from about 25 to 28 million, while the $25,000–49,999 group hovered around 27 to 30 million, dipping slightly by the end.
By contrast, the middle brackets remained largely flat. The number of households earning $50,000–74,999 stayed almost unchanged at around 21 million in all three years, and the $75,000–99,999 bracket was the smallest throughout, fluctuating narrowly between 14 and 15 million.
03 · Why this scores Band 9
The response reports all five income brackets across the three years, gives a clear overview (lowest and highest brackets largest; highest earners rising most; upper-middle smallest), and quotes accurate figures (top bracket 29→33 million, $50–75k steady at ~21 million). It selects the significant comparisons rather than reciting every bar.
The report follows the ideal Task 1 shape — introduction, overview, then two detail paragraphs that group the brackets logically (the largest groups, then the flat middle). Cohesion is natural — "Overall", "In each year", "By contrast", "throughout" — and comparisons run through the whole answer.
Chart-description vocabulary is precise and varied — "a marked rise", "a clear peak", "hovered around", "remained largely flat", "fluctuating narrowly" — and quantities are hedged appropriately ("around", "roughly") since exact values are read from bars.
A range of structures is controlled accurately: a contrast with "whereas" and "By contrast", a participle clause ("dipping slightly by the end"), and superlatives handled correctly ("the smallest throughout"). Past tenses suit the historical data, and the writing is error-free.
04 · Useful collocations for this task
Tap a phrase to see what it means and how to use it. Natural collocations like these lift your Lexical Resource score.
05 · Frequently asked questions
How exact do my numbers need to be if I am reading them off bars?
Approximate is expected and fine. Use hedging language — "around 29 million", "roughly 33 million" — because you cannot read exact values from a bar. What matters is that your figures are clearly in the right range and support your comparisons.
How do I organise a bar chart with several groups and years?
Group the bars by behaviour rather than describing each bar in turn. This model clusters the largest brackets together and the flat middle brackets together, which is far clearer than listing fifteen individual values.
What tense should I use?
Past tenses, because the data covers 2007–2015 and is historical ("the figure rose", "remained flat"). If a chart included future projections, that part would take future forms instead.
How long should a Task 1 answer be?
At least 150 words; a band-9 answer is usually 170–200. This model is 191 words, enough to give an overview and report all five brackets accurately. Spend about 20 minutes on Task 1.
Want feedback on your own answer?
Toey grades your essay on Task, Coherence, Lexical Resource and Grammar, then shows exactly how to reach the next band — free to start.
Try the free IELTS Writing grader