At what salary are you considered upper class?
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.
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.
Earning $150,000 puts you well above the average salary in the U.S — over double the median income, in fact, according to Census data. With this salary, you can likely afford a bigger home than most, and likely in a more desirable location.
Top 5% income
You'll start to see dramatic shifts in the top 5%, where the EPI found the average earners significantly increased to $343,000 in 2020, up from $324,000 the year before. While that's certainly a lot, there's a growing trend of even more cash flowing to — flooding even — those at the top of the heap.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median income in 2021 was $70,784. So American families earning between $47,189 and $141,568 are technically in the middle class, according to the Pew Research Center's definition.
18% of individual Americans make over $100k per year. 34.4% of US households make over $100k per year. 37% of White Households make over $100k, compared to only 22% of Black households. 9% more men earn $100k per year than women in the US.
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.
Making $100,000 a year is not common in the U.S. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, only 15.3% of American households make more than $100,000.
| Annual household income in U.S. dollars | Percentage of U.S. households |
|---|---|
| 75,000 to 99,999 | 11.9% |
| 100,000 to 149,999 | 15.9% |
| 150,000 to 199,999 | 8.3% |
| 200,000 and over | 11.6% |
Approximately 33.6% of Americans make over $100,000 per year. 15.3% of that number are those who make between $100,000-$150,000, and only 0.1% make over a million per year.
What is top 3 percent income in US?
| Data | Top third | Top 3% |
|---|---|---|
| Household income | ||
| Lower threshold (annual gross income) | $65,000 | $200,000 |
| Exact percentage of households | 34.72% | 2.67% |
| Personal income (age 25+) | ||
According to the Economic Policy Institute, the average annual wage of the top 1% was $823,763 as of 2020.1 A more recent study by SmartAsset points out that the national average of the top 1% earners is $597,815.2 Have in mind that the figures vary greatly from state to state.
They found that the top 20% of all Americans earn over $130,000 in income. Thats over 5 times more than the bottom 20%. While that's interesting in and of itself, what even more important is that the top 20% are also receiving over 50% of all the income earned in the country. Now that's BIG.
| . | FAMILY SIZE | |
|---|---|---|
| STATE | 1 EARNER | 4 PEOPLE * |
| Arizona | $52,334 | $80,956 |
| Arkansas | $43,585 | $68,341 |
| California | $57,962 | $96,813 |
National average income: The national average U.S. income in 2021 was $97,962. The median U.S. income in 2021 was $69,717. Highest paying jobs: Chief executives and nurse anesthetists earned over $200,000 a year on average in 2021, making them the highest paid occupations.
The upper middle class are able to get high paying jobs because they have the highest level of education, and they tend to have a skill set that other people do not have. They tend to occupy white-collar jobs, have university degrees, have comfortable houses with mortgages, go on holiday yearly, and drive nice cars.
How Many People Make 6-Figure Salaries in the US? A minority of Americans make over $100,000 a year. According to Zippia, roughly 33.6% of Americans make six figures annually.
Someone who makes $250,000 a year, for example, could be considered rich if they're saving and investing in order to accumulate wealth and live in an area with a low cost of living.
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.
If you had an income of $200,000, that would put you in the top 10% of household incomes or the top 5% of individual incomes in 2021. Though I prefer household income over individual income, no matter how you cut it, $200k a year puts you on the higher end of the income spectrum.
Do 90% of millionaires make over 100k a year?
Choose the right career
And one crucial detail to note: Millionaire status doesn't equal a sky-high salary. “Only 31% averaged $100,000 a year over the course of their career,” the study found, “and one-third never made six figures in any single working year of their career.”
However, $200,000 per year is a high income and would place an individual in the top income bracket in the United States. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median household income in the United States in 2021 was $68,703, so earning $200,000 per year would be significantly higher than the median income.
A 10th of millennials said they already earn $100,000, compared to 9% of Gen X and 11% of baby boomers – the only income bracket where boomers earn more than millennials.
Memphis, TN is the place where $100,000 goes furthest. A person earning $100,000 per year in Memphis takes home $74,515 after federal and local taxes (the state of Tennessee doesn't tax earned income).
If your annual salary is $100,000, the 30% rule means you should spend around $2,500 per month on your house payment. With a 10% down payment and a 6% fixed interest rate, you could likely afford a home worth around $350,000 to $400,000 (depending on the cost of taxes and home insurance).
A $170K household income in the United States will put you in the top 20% of earners, or what many would consider “rich.” At the end of the day, peace of mind is more about what you do with that money than your income level or net worth.
Earning as much as $180k would still put someone in the “Middle Class” in some parts of the state. Reform California breaks down the reasons why the state is so unaffordable and how to fix it.
According to the survey, 5.7% of all U.S. households earn more than $200k annually. To get a better idea of how this percentage varies from county to county, check out the map below that shows the percentage of households in each U.S. county that have an annual household income of $200k or higher.
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What is the top 1% household net worth by age?
| Age | Top 1% Net Worth |
|---|---|
| 18-24 | $435,076.59 |
| 25-29 | $606,188.36 |
| 30-34 | $956,944.74 |
| 35-39 | $4,034,486.45 |
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, about half of all U.S. households earn $65,700 or more per year. However, only those households earning at least $131,350 per year are among the richest 20% of households nationwide.
What do the top 1% earn more than?
According to a recent study by personal finance website SmartAsset, an American family needed to earn $597,815 in 2021 to be in the top 1% nationally.
Ultra high net worth individuals: population of global 1 percent 2021, by country. Over 22 million individuals residing in the United States belonged to the global top one percent of ultra high net worth individuals worldwide in 2021.
Key Statistics About How Many People Make Over 100k A Year
6% of women earn more than $100k per year. 13% of men make more than $100k per year. 48% of Americans making $100k+ a year are living paycheck to paycheck. 12% of people making $100k a year are struggling to pay their bills.
Approximately 33.6% of U.S. households earn $100,000 or more. With that, around one in three households are bringing in a six-figure income. However, a household can include more than one earner.
In 2019, the threshold to be in the 80th percentile of households according to annual income was $131,349. Given significant differences in jobs and cost of living, the income threshold to be in the top 20% of earners varies significantly across U.S. cities, ranging from roughly $71,200 to more than $250,000.
The 2010 study found that money could only boost happiness up to a point — about $75,000 in annual earnings. Beyond that figure, the researchers concluded, money had little impact.
Pew defines “middle class” as those earning between two-thirds and twice the median American household income, which in 2021 was $70,784, according to the United States Census Bureau. That means American households earning as little as $47,189 and up to $141,568 are technically in the middle class.
Overall, Americans need an average post-tax income of $68,499 to live comfortably in the U.S., according to recent data from SmartAsset.
A recent report from SmartAsset found that you'll need to earn an average $68,499 post-taxes to live comfortably in America's 25 biggest metro areas. That's a 20% increase from a year ago, when you needed just $57,013 after taxes.
While people have different qualifications and different ideas of what constitutes a good salary, most would consider $75,000 per year to be good pay.
What is the highest paying occupation?
| OCCUPATION | 2022 MEDIAN PAY | PERCENTAGE INCREASE OVER NATIONAL MEDIAN |
|---|---|---|
| Chief Executives | $189,520 | 309.20% |
| Orthodontists | $174,360 | 276.50% |
| Computer and Information Systems Managers | $164,070 | 254.30% |
| Architectural and Engineering Managers | $159,920 | 245.30% |
The term upper class is a socioeconomic term used to describe those who reside on the highest levels of the social ladder above the middle and working or lower classes. They generally have the highest status in society and hold a great deal of wealth.
In academic models, the term "upper middle class" applies to highly educated, salaried professionals whose work is largely self-directed. Many have postgraduate degrees, with educational attainment serving as the main distinguishing feature of this class.
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Across the entire country, that range is between $47,189 and $141,568, based on Census Bureau income data. But $150,000 is still a middle-class income by Pew's definition in nearly half of the country's 50 most-populated metropolitan areas, where incomes tend to be high.
Earning $300,000 a year is still considered middle class in this U.S. city—it's not New York or LA. Around half the American population is considered middle class, according to the most recent Pew Research data. But being middle class looks different depending on where you are.
With a $500,000+ income, you are considered rich, wherever you live! According to the IRS, any household who makes over $500,000 a year in 2023 is considered a top 1% income earner.
The most commonly quoted figure for qualification as a high-net-worth individual is at least $1 million in liquid financial assets, excluding personal assets such as a primary residence. Investors with less than $1 million but more than $100,000 liquid assets are considered sub-HNWIs.
For comparison, the median income for U.S. households overall is under $70,000, with only 10% of households earning more than $200,000, according to SmartAsset. Coastal states like New York and California tend to have the highest earners, while top earners in more rural states like Mississippi and Arkansas make less.
On a $70,000 income, you'll likely be able to afford a home that costs $280,000–380,000. The exact amount will depend on how much debt you have and where you live — as well as the type of home loan you get.
How much Social Security will I get if I make $120000 a year?
The point is that if you earned $120,000 per year for the past 35 years, thanks to the annual maximum taxable wage limits, the maximum Social Security benefit you could get at full retirement age is $2,687.
This proposal could potentially affect millions of high earners in the U.S. It has been widely reported that 1.8 percent of taxpayers—nearly 2.5 million people—earn $400,000 or more, though Newsweek has been unable to find a source for that specific figure.
A $170K household income in the United States will put you in the top 20% of earners, or what many would consider “rich.” At the end of the day, peace of mind is more about what you do with that money than your income level or net worth.
How much money do you need to be considered rich? According to Schwab's 2022 Modern Wealth Survey, Americans believe it takes an average net worth of $2.2 million to qualify a person as being wealthy. (Net worth is the sum of your assets minus your liabilities.)
If you're earning $75,000 each year, you're doing a bit better than half the country. According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the median household income in 2021 stood at $70,784, so that extra $4,216 puts you in the upper 50 percent of earners.
Can I retire at 55 with $1 million? Yes, you can retire at 55 with one million dollars. You will receive a guaranteed annual income of $56,250 immediately and for the rest of your life.
So, can you retire at 60 with $1 million, and what would that look like? It's certainly possible to retire comfortably in this scenario. But it's wise to review your spending needs, taxes, health care, and other factors as you prepare for your retirement years.
The good news: As long as you plan carefully, $3 million should be a comfortable amount to retire on at 55. If you're ready to be matched with local advisors that can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.