Income distribution patterns from a complete social security database

► Income distribution and its dynamics is studied in the Cluj district (Romania) for the 2001-2009 period. ► A first, long time-length study of income mobility is realized on an ensemble of more than half a million employees. ► In the high income limit we show the validity of the Pareto's law on an interval extending four orders of magnitude. ► For the low and medium income category we confirm the exponential-type income distribution. ► In the high income category the observed dynamics is consistent with the multiplicative random growth hypothesis.