This Is The Income Needed To Join The Top 1% In Every US State

What does it take to join the top 1% of income earners in America?

Well, it depends on where you live. In some states, your annual income needs to crack $1 million to be among the state’s income elite—in others, it takes less than half of that to make the cut.

This graphic, via Visual Capitalist’s Bruno Venditti, illustrates the income needed to be in the top 1% of earners in each state.

The data was compiled by SmartAsset as of June 2024.

SmartAsset analyzed 2021 IRS data for individual tax filers.

Figures were adjusted to June 2024 dollars using the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), U.S. city average series for all items, not seasonally adjusted.

Key Takeaways

Nationwide, it takes an income of $787,712 to be in the top 1% of earners.

The median U.S. income is approximately $75,000, with half of Americans earning less.

Earning over $1 million annually is required to join the top 1% in three states. Connecticut leads with the highest threshold at $1.2 million, followed by Massachusetts at $1.11 million, and California at $1.04 million. Meanwhile, in West Virginia, the threshold is almost a third of Connecticut’s at $420,000.

Rank
State
Income of the top 1%
1
Connecticut
$1,152,254
2
Massachusetts
$1,113,662
3
California
$1,035,673
4
Washington
$989,649
5
New Jersey
$975,645
6
New York
$965,645
7
Colorado
$865,700
8
Florida
$852,206
9
Wyoming
$843,121
10
New Hampshire
$811,098
11
Utah
$784,233
12
Illinois
$783,340
13
Nevada
$777,180
14
Texas
$762,090
15
Virginia
$760,610
16
Maryland
$741,501
17
Minnesota
$730,096
18
South Dakota
$727,168
19
Montana
$715,899
20
Idaho
$703,997
21
Georgia
$700,544
22
Pennsylvania
$696,192
23
Arizona
$688,934
24
North Dakota
$684,124
25
Oregon
$683,170
26
Tennessee
$678,956
27
North Carolina
$665,021
28
Kansas
$651,226
29
Rhode Island
$650,914
30
Nebraska
$629,413
31
Vermont
$623,244
32
Alaska
$620,783
33
Delaware
$618,488
34
South Carolina
$611,219
35
Wisconsin
$610,435
36
Hawaii
$609,846
37
Michigan
$603,834
38
Missouri
$590,001
39
Maine
$588,394
40
Louisiana
$587,399
41
Ohio
$581,161
42
Iowa
$571,730
43
Alabama
$557,334
44
Indiana
$552,877
45
Oklahoma
$540,879
46
Arkansas
$531,692
47
Kentucky
$513,865
48
New Mexico
$476,196
49
Mississippi
$440,744
50
West Virginia
$420,453

On a global basis, the average salary to hit the top 1% is quite a bit lower: an annual salary of about $65,000 does the trick.

If you enjoyed this post, be sure to check out this graphic, which ranks the income a family needs to live comfortably in every U.S. state.