For decades, the wealth gap between America's richest and poorer families has been widening, with upper-income households growing their share of the nation's aggregate income at the expense of middle- and lower-income ones, according to the non-partisan think tank Pew Research Center.
The pandemic accelerated this process, with the 400 richest Americans—as per Forbes 400—reportedly becoming 40 percent richer during the COVID-19 emergency, adding a total sum between $2.9 billion and $4.5 trillion to their collective wealth.
According to a report by nonprofit organization Oxfam, some $42 trillion in new wealth was created between 2020 and 2022, two-thirds of which went to America's richest 1 percent.
But what does it take to be considered rich in America when you're not among the list of famous billionaires like Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Tesla owner Elon Musk?
While wealth can be measured with different terms, to be recognized within the country's top 1 percent—which is undoubtedly commonly understood as being rich—you need to meet certain criteria.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) describes the top 1 percent earners by either their annual income or net worth. Going by income first, in 2019—the latest IRS data available—anyone with an annual income of $540,009 would be considered among the richest people in the country.
That would be the same as earning $45,000 a month—a salary that's far from any normal wage for any ordinary, 9 to 5 job, and that's more likely to be earned by top business owners, athletes and celebrities like actors, singers or influencers.
However, joining the country's 1 percent can differ by more than a half-million dollars moving from state to state, according to a 2022 analysis by personal finance website SmartAsset.
This is a list of what you need to earn per year in every state to belong to the 1 percent of earners, as calculated by updating 2018 IRS income data using the 2022 Consumer Price Index to account for inflation. States are ordered alphabetically.
The top five states with the highest annual income to be considered part of the 1 percent are Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and California. The lowest annual income is required in West Virginia, Mississippi, New Mexico, Arkansas and Kentucky.
- Alabama: $466,719
- Alaska: $529,327
- Arizona: $546,798
- Arkansas: $446,276
- California: $805,519
- Colorado: $682,897
- Connecticut: $955,261
- Delaware: $526,858
- Florida: $678,816
- Georgia: $586,207
- Hawaii: $487,092
- Idaho: $508,126
- Illinois: $666,202
- Indiana: $471,007
- Iowa: $474,160
- Kansas: $539,002
- Kentucky: $447,370
- Louisiana: $489,500
- Maine: $486,893
- Maryland: $634,255
- Massachusetts: $896,932
- Michigan: $511,240
- Minnesota: $616,326
- Mississippi: $383,128
- Missouri: $501,200
- Montana: $514,013
- Nebraska: $510,981
- Nevada: $571,593
- New Hampshire: $634,464
- New Jersey: $825,965
- New Mexico: $418,970
- New York: $817,796
- North Carolina: $554,221
- North Dakota: $578,237
- Ohio: $494,700
- Oklahoma: $483,606
- Oregon: $551,004
- Pennsylvania: $591,900
- Rhode Island: $545,345
- South Carolina: $506,496
- South Dakota: $549,189
- Tennessee: $535,065
- Texas: $641,449
- Utah: $577,024
- Vermont: $502,425
- Virginia: $635,705
- Washington: $736,084
- West Virginia: $374,712
- Wisconsin: $514,561
- Wyoming: $635,458
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek Reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on U.S. and European politics, global affairs ... Read more
