If you made $30,452 in 1963, after adjusting for inflation, you paid a tax of 26 percent on the next dollar you reported to the IRS. If you made $36,255 in 2013, you paid a 25 percent tax on your next dollar of taxable income.
Above these modest-income levels, the 1963 and 2013 stories start diverging. If you made $106,582 in 1963, after inflation, you paid a 47 percent tax on your next dollar of income. On income between $87,850 and $183,255 in 2013, taxpayers faced just a 28 percent rate.
At the top, the biggest divide of all. Income over $1,522,595 in 1963, in today's dollars, faced a 91 percent federal income tax. Income at that level in 2013 faced a 39.6 percent top-bracket rate.