Who is considered a high-income earner?
Based on that figure, an annual income of $500,000 or more would make you rich. The Economic Policy Institute uses a different baseline to determine who constitutes the top 1% and the top 5%. For 2021, you're in the top 1% if you earn $819,324 or more each year. The top 5% of income earners make $335,891 per year.
2022 AVERAGE ANNUAL WAGES | |
---|---|
Top 1% | $350,000+ |
Top 5% | $170,000 to $174,999 |
Top 10% | $120,000 to $124,999 |
Top 15% | $95,000 to $99,999 |
Upper-middle class: $94,001 – $153,000. Upper class: greater than $153,000.
For 2022, the average wage for working Americans was $61,136. The average wages of those in the top 1 percent of wage earners were $785,968 that year. In the rarefied top 0.1 percent, the average earnings were more than $2.8 million in 2022.
According to Schwab's 2023 Modern Wealth Survey, Americans perceive an average net worth of $2.2 million as wealthy. Knight Frank's research indicates that a net worth of $4.4 million is required to be in the top 1% in America, a figure much higher than in countries like Japan, the U.K. and Australia.
Many have graduate degrees with educational attainment serving as the main distinguishing feature of this class. Household incomes commonly exceed $100,000, with some smaller one-income earners household having incomes in the high 5-figure range. "The upper middle class has grown...and its composition has changed.
In the U.S. 18% of individuals earn more than $100,000, according to Zippia, a career advising company, and like the cost of living, income varies greatly between cities and states.
One way some researchers divide individuals into economic classes is by looking at their incomes. From that data, they split earners into different classes: poor, lower-middle class, middle class, upper-middle class and wealthy.
A salary of $90,000 in California can be considered a decent income, but whether it's considered "good" depends on various factors, including your location, lifestyle, and personal financial goals.
So, if you have a salary of $120,000, you have a salary that is in the top 50 percent of all earners in the United States. With a salary of over $100,000, you are doing very well and in the top echelon of earners in the United States.
What income puts you in the top 10%?
Bracket | Average annual wges |
---|---|
Top 0.1% | $3,212,486 |
Top 1% | $823,763 |
Top 5% | $342,987 |
Top 10% | $173,176 |
The Top 20% Income Earners
The Associated Press, quoting figures released from the recent Census Bureau report, published an article last week revealing what the top-earning 20% of Americans make in income. They found that the top 20% of all Americans earn over $130,000 in income.
$1 million, $5 million, $10 million
However, if you have $1m, are retired and are living an expensive lifestyle, you might go from wealthy to poor in a relatively short period of time. The Schwab survey found that overall, Americans say they need: $1.9 million to be wealthy in 2021 (down from $2.6 million in 2020)
1,821,745 Households in the United States Have Investment Portfolios Worth $3,000,000 or More.
The report found that breaking into the world's top-one-percent club is getting more difficult every year. In the U.S. in 2023, individuals needed a net worth of $5.1 million to be considered in the richest echelons of society. By 2024 this figure rose to more than $5.8 million, an increase of approximately 14%.
Earning more than $100,000 per year would put you well ahead of the median American household, which brings in $74,784 as of 2021. Assuming you're an individual without dependents, that salary would qualify you as upper class, according to three different definitions (Brookings, Urban Institute and Pew Research).
"In America's most expensive cities, the bar has definitely been raised to be considered 'middle class,'" GOBankingRates lead content data researcher Andrew Murray told Fox News Digital. "To escape the lower middle class, you'll need to earn as much as $150,000, which is substantially higher than what it used to be."
Generally, an income that comfortably covers living expenses, allows for savings, and provides for leisure activities is considered good. In the United States, median household income is around $68,700 according to recent data. However, in cities with higher costs of living, a good salary might be considerably higher.
Pew defines the upper class as adults whose annual household income is more than double the national median. In 2022, the national median household income is around $75,000, up from $68,000 in 2021.
How much does a Six Figures make in California? As of Apr 2, 2024, the average annual pay for the Six Figures jobs category in California is $96,178 a year. Just in case you need a simple salary calculator, that works out to be approximately $46.24 an hour. This is the equivalent of $1,849/week or $8,014/month.
How common is a 6 figure salary?
A minority of Americans make over $100,000 a year. According to Zippia, roughly 33.6% of Americans make six figures annually. And 15% of those earn between $100,000 to $150,000.
Conclusion. In the US, 18% of individual Americans and 34.4% of households make $100k per year or more. This number has increased by 2.97% in the past five years and has nearly doubled since 1980. However, that doesn't mean all $100k+ earners are evenly spread.
lower-income households had incomes less than $48,500; upper-income households had incomes greater than $145,500; middle-income households fell into a range between those two numbers.
At $200,000 a year, you are considered upper middle class in expensive coastal cities and rich in lower cost areas of the country. After $19,000 in retirement contributions to your 401(k), you are left with $181,000 in gross income, leaving you with roughly $126,700 in after tax income using a 30% effective tax rate.
By the Census data, it means that if you earn between $50,000 and $150,000 a year, you are considered middle class. It's a pretty straightforward answer, but it isn't particularly helpful if you're trying to climb up out of a lower income bracket into the middle class.
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