The Theil index is a statistic used to measure economic inequality. The Theil index measures an entropic "distance" the population is away from the "ideal" egalitarian state of everyone having the same income. The numerical result is in terms of negative entropy so that a higher number indicates more order that is further away from the "ideal" of maximum disorder. Formulating the index to represent negative entropy instead of entropy allows it to be a measure of inequality rather than equality.