(NEXSTAR) — What it takes to be “rich” can vary from person to person: it could be owning a house, making a lot of money, or, in today’s world, finding eggs under $4 per dozen. The definition on paper, however, is a lot more straightforward — and maybe not as far out of reach as you may think.
Reviewing data from the Social Security Administration, GOBankingRates recently determined that to be among the top 1 percent of earners in the U.S., you need to make at least $794,129 annually. That works out to about $66,180 a week — for comparison, the most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau found the average annual household income in 2023 was $80,610.
While that threshold seems high, GOBankingRates notes that is a 3.3 percent decrease over the previous year, signaling that “the top 1% of earners have not experienced the same wage growth as those in the bottom 99%.”
Going from the bottom 99 percent to the top 1 percent is easier to do in some states than others.
GOBankingRate found it takes the highest income to rank among Connecticut’s wealthiest. There, you would need to earn nearly $1,193,000 annually to be in the top 1 percent.
Roughly 500 miles away in West Virginia, you would need to earn about one-third of that — or roughly $435,300 — to rank among the state’s top 1 percent of earners.
Only two other states had income thresholds below $500,000: Mississippi ($456,300) and New Mexico ($493,000). In addition to Connecticut, four states had income thresholds above $1 million: Massachusetts ($1,153,000), California ($1,072,300), Washington ($1,025,000), and New Jersey ($1,010,100).
You can use the interactive table below to see whether you’re earning enough to be in the top 1 percent in your state.
If the top 1 percent feels out of reach, you may have better luck landing in the top 10 percent. Nationally, the bottom threshold of that rank of earners is just $148,812.
These income thresholds have shifted slightly compared to a similar report from 2023 by personal finance site SmartAsset.
The five states with the highest income thresholds were largely the same as GOBankingRates’ analysis but in a slightly different order and one different state:
- Connecticut: $955,300
- Massachusetts: $896,900
- New Jersey: $825,965
- New York: $817,796
- California: $805,519
West Virginia also ranked as the state with the lowest threshold in that survey — a salary of just $374,700 would put you in the state’s top 1 percent of earners, per the 2023 report.
For comparison, the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that, as of 2022, the median household wealth nationwide was $176,500. One in 10 households had a wealth exceeding $1.6 million.
