Even if you have money, sometimes it’s hard to feel like you’re rich with the cost of living skyrocketing or factors linked to lifestyle creep. However, if you make a healthy six figures, you might be in the top 1% of wage earners in the United States.
Obviously this is a great money-making group to be a part of, but depending on where you live, you still may just miss the mark and fall into an extremely comfortable category — but not the top 1%.
Read Next: Suze Orman: Make This Urgent Money Move Now ‘Before It’s Too Late’
For You: 6 Subtly Genius Moves All Wealthy People Make With Their Money
Here’s how much you need to make in salary alone to be part of the 1% in America, plus how much you need to make to be in the top 5% and top 10% of wage earners.
Trending Now: Suze Orman’s Secret to a Wealthy Retirement–Have You Made This Money Move?
How Much Does the Top 1% Make?
According to data from the Social Security Administration, you need to make $794,129 annually to be in the top 1% of wage earners in the U.S. This is based on an analysis of the most recently available wage data.
To break this down further, you’d need to earn about $66,178 per month, or about $15,272 per week, to be in the top 1% of income earners.
Check Out: Jeff Bezos’ Billion-Dollar Life: A Look at His Mansion Collection
How Much Do the Top 5% and Top 10% Make?
If you’re not making over $750,000 per year, you might not be part of the 1%. But if you make six figures, there’s a chance you’re in the top 10% of wage earners in the U.S. — or even the top 5%.
Here’s how much you need to make to be in the top 5% and the top 10% in America:
-
Top 5% income threshold: $352,773
-
Top 10% income threshold: $148,812
As you can see, earning just under $150,000 puts you in the top 10% of all wage earners in the U.S. This doesn’t put you in the elite class of top 1% earners, but you make more, on average, than 90% of American households.
If you make just more than double that amount, you’ll be in the top 5% of American household income.
The Top 1% Income Varies by State
Being a top 1% income earner in the U.S. doesn’t necessarily make you part of the top 1% wage earners in your state. In fact, the salary for the top 1% of earners varies quite a bit — depending on where you live.
GOBankingRates recently crunched the numbers on location-specific data, showing how much you would need to have earned last year to be part of the 1% in your state.
Here’s the salary required to be part of the 1% in the top 10 states:
-
Connecticut: $1,192,947
-
Massachusetts: $1,152,992
-
California: $1,072,248
-
Washington: $1,024,599
-
New Jersey: $1,010,101
-
New York: $999,747
-
Colorado: $896,273
-
Florida: $882,302
-
Wyoming: $872,896
-
New Hampshire: $839,742
As you can see, the numbers vary by more than $350,000 from Connecticut to New Hampshire.
Here’s the data for the 10 lowest-earning states:
-
Ohio: $601,685
-
Iowa: $591,921
-
Alabama: $577,017
-
Indiana: $572,403
-
Oklahoma: $559,981
-
Arkansas: $550,469
-
Kentucky: $532,013
-
New Mexico: $493,013
-
Mississippi: $456,309
-
West Virginia: $435,302
The difference between the top 1% wage earners in Connecticut and West Virginia is over $750,000 per year!
Caitlyn Moorhead contributed to the reporting for this article.
More From GOBankingRates
-
3 Luxury SUVs That Will Have Massive Price Drops in Summer 2025
-
4 Things You Should Do if You Want To Retire Early
-
7 Wealth-Building Shortcuts Proven To Add $1K to Your Wallet This Month
-
5 Things You Must Do When Your Savings Reach $50,000
This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Here’s the Minimum Salary Required To Be Considered in the Top 1% in 2025
