per capita

adverb or adjective

per cap·​i·​ta (ˌ)pər-ˈka-pə-tə 

1

: per unit of population : by or for each person

the highest income per capita of any state in the union

2

: equally to each individual

Synonyms

• a shot
• each
• per
• a pop

Examples of per capita in a Sentence

we expect the students to receive less funding per capita this year due to a marked increase in the school-age population

Recent Examples on the Web

County supervisors should first stem their rapidly escalating spending, which has doubled in the past eight years and ranks highest per capita by far of the 10 largest California counties. —Mercury News & East Bay Times Editorial, Mercury News, 25 Oct. 2025

Austin ranked last with 166 gallons per day per capita, and the Dallas-Fort Worth area ranked third from the bottom with less than 200 gallons per day per capita. —Matthew Adams, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 21 Oct. 2025

Several years ago, Hamilton County, which avidly pursued death penalty cases for decades, had a larger death row population per capita than the home counties of Los Angeles or Miami. —Kevin Grasha, Cincinnati Enquirer, 21 Oct. 2025

This represents a per capita loss of $5,612 by 2028 and $34,369 by 2035. —Billal Rahman, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Medieval Latin, by heads

First Known Use

1682, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Kids Definition

per capita

adverb or adjective

per cap·​i·​ta (ˌ)pər-ˈkap-ət-ə 

: by or for each person

per capita income

Legal Definition

per capita

adverb or adjective

per cap·​i·​ta pər-ˈka-pə-tə 

1

: equally to each individual

all property to pass to the descendants per capita

—used of a method of distributing an especially intestate estate compare per stirpes

Note: Per capita distribution of an estate provides each descendant with an equal share of the estate's assets regardless of the degree of his or her kinship. Children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc., all receive equal shares.

2

: per unit of population : by or for each individual

a high per capita tax burden

Etymology

Medieval Latin, by heads