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Introduction: Deterministic compartmental models of infectious diseases like measles typically reflect biological heterogeneities in the risk of infection and severity to characterize transmission dynamics. Given the known association of socioeconomic status and increased vulnerability to infection and mortality, it is also critical that such models further incorporate social heterogeneities. Methods: Here, we aimed to explore the influence of integrating income-associated differences in parameters of traditional dynamic transmission models. We developed a measles SIR model, in which the Susceptible, Infected and Recovered classes were stratified by income quintile, with income-specific transmission rates, disease-induced mortality rates, and vaccination coverage levels. We further provided a stylized illustration with secondary data from Ethiopia, where we examined various scenarios demonstrating differences in transmission patterns by income and in distributional vaccination coverage, and quantified impacts on disparities in measles mortality.