What Salary Puts You in the Top 1%

There’s no question that money can be the source of our problems or the results of our success. Living on a healthy salary can determine how often you travel, the size house you buy (or villa if that’s your preference), and especially where you live. But what determines the percentile that you fit into? How do you discern how affluent you are? Well, we’ve done the math for you and the answer is astounding.

Naturally, the annual income you make will vary on a state-by-state basis, as will whether you fit into the top 1%; however, the median income for the top 1% in the United States is $389,436. This is not surprising to us as studies have shown that it costs $71,237 more annually for a family to live in New York than in its suburban counterparts.

Even once you’ve entered the top 1%, if you want to maintain that status, you need to make an increase of 7.7% annually each year, according to the Washington Center for Equitable Growth. To make it into the 5% bracket, households must bring in $214,462 or higher, according to the Census Bureau. Furthermore, the top 5% of earners need to climb by .9% annually to stay in the exclusive club of the United States largest salaries. To cross the line of the 10% mark, individuals still had to be making a 6-figure income, hovering around $133,445 according to the Internal Revenue Service. So whether you’re in the top 10%, 5% or 1%, it’s never a bad time to ask your boss for that pay raise.