Americans' income rose in 2010

After two years of declines, Americans' income finally rose in 2010. The Internal Revenue Service provided a first peek at taxpayers' returns and it showed that adjusted gross income totaled $8 trillion, up 5.2% from 2009.
 
But a closer look at the data reveals that only the wealthiest Americans will be popping the Cristal.

Taxpayers earning more than $250,000 saw their total adjusted gross incomes rise by 13.8%, while those bringing home between $200K and $250K enjoyed at 6.7% increase, according to a CNNMoney analysis.
 
Middle-class Americans? Not so fortunate. Those making between $50K and $100K saw their incomes creep up only 1.5%.
 
Part of the imbalance comes from differences in the growth of wages, the largest component of adjusted gross income.
 
Overall, salaries and wages grew 2.1%. But the super-rich saw an 11.2% hike, and those just below them enjoyed a 4.6% increase.
 
But the middle class saw a drop of 0.7% in wages.
 
And while capital gains rose healthily for most income brackets, the wealthiest taxpayers benefited from a 37.6% hike, and those in the bracket below pocketed 32% more. Middle-income folks saw only a 19.8% increase.
 
Well, at least incomes are going up again. Americans are faring better than they did in 2009, when adjusted gross income fell 6.9% from the previous year.
 
In 2009, the rich saw their incomes plummet 20.7% and the tier below them dropped 5.9%. Middle-income Americans, meanwhile, didn't get hit nearly as hard. Their incomes slipped 2.5%.