Earning more money can make it easier to pay the bills, fund your financial goals and spend on hobbies or “fun,” but what income is considered to make you rich? The answer can depend on several factors, including where you live, what type of job you have, how much you save or invest and how you typically spend your money. If you’re looking for help to reach your financial goals and be considered “rich” in your own eyes then consider building a plan and working with a financial advisor.
What Income Is Considered Rich?
Pinning down an exact income level that qualifies you as “rich” is difficult, as there are numerous studies and surveys that attempt to measure it. To keep things simple, let’s consider where the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) sets the bar for the top 1% of earners first.
According to the most recent data available for fiscal year 2019, an income of $540,009 per year puts you in the top 1% category. 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.
What Is a Rich Monthly Income?
The amount of money you need to make each month to be rich depends on which metric you’re using. If you’re going by the IRS standard, then you’d need to make approximately $45,000 a month to be rich. On the other hand, if you’re aiming for the top 1% as measured by the EPI, you’d need a monthly income of $68,277.
To reach that level of income, you’ll likely need to have something more than the typical 9-to-5 job. Examples of people with monthly incomes in that range can include successful business owners, celebrities, athletes and online influencers or content creators.
How Much Income Do You Need to Be in the Top 20%?
The real median household income in the U.S. is around $71,000, according to the latest Census Bureau data. In order to be in the top 20% of income, you’d need to earn nearly double that amount or an average of $130,545 per year.
That’s according to a SmartAsset study of income distributions in the 100 largest U.S. cities. The study found a wide range of income distributions geographically, with residents of San Francisco needing an income of $250,000 or more per year to land in the top 20%. Meanwhile, you’d need an income of $70,444 to be a top 20% earner in Detroit.
It’s important to remember that the definition of what it means to be rich is subjective. 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.
Rich vs. Wealthy: What’s the Difference?
Being rich is one thing, but being wealthy can mean something entirely different. Someone who’s rich may have cash available to spend on luxury goods or take expensive vacations. A wealthy person, on the other hand, might be more focused on increasing their net worth and creating a long-lasting financial legacy.
So, what’s the cutoff to be considered wealthy? Again, it’s subjective and there are lots of different numbers that may be tossed around. Someone who has $1 million in liquid assets, for instance, is usually considered to be a high net worth (HNW) individual. You might need $5 million to $10 million to qualify as having a very high net worth while it may take $30 million or more to be considered ultra-high net worth.
That’s how financial advisors typically view wealth. The average American, on the other hand, sees $774,000 as a sufficient net worth to be financially comfortable and a net worth of $2.2 million to be wealthy, according to Schwab.
How to Become Rich
If you’d like to reach millionaire status or join the ranks of the rich, you’ll need a strategy for achieving that goal. Short of winning the lottery or inheriting a fortune, becoming rich takes some effort. Just how much effort can depend on where you’re starting from.
Here are some of the most impactful steps you can take to become rich.
- Earn more:Increasing your income means you’ll have more money to save, invest and pay down debt, all of which can help to boost your net worth. There are different ways to increase income, including negotiating a pay raise, pursuing higher-paying roles, taking on a part-time or second job and starting a profitable business or side hustle.
- Budget:Budgeting is one of the simplest ways to take control of your money and become rich. When you budget, you’re deciding how to allocate the income that you have each month. That makes it easier to work toward your goals of saving and increasing your net worth.
- Reduce debt:Your net worth is calculated based on how much you owe versus what you have in assets. Paying down debt can help you get on the path to becoming rich if you’re able to free up more money for saving and investing. If your debt is expensive due to high-interest rates, consolidating or refinancing it or using a 0% APR balance transfer could make it easier to pay down what you owe.
- Invest:Investing and saving money are both important but they’re entirely different. When you save money, you’re typically putting it into a savings or CD account at your bank where it can earn a little interest. When you invest, you’re putting your money into the market where it has the potential to earn much higher returns. If you’re not investing yet, the easiest way to get started is to contribute to your retirement plan at work. You might have a 401(k), for example, which you can contribute to from your paychecks automatically. As an added bonus, your employer might match some of what you put in, which is free money for you. In addition to a workplace retirement plan, you can also begin building wealth through an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) or a taxable brokerage account.
- Get professional advice:Talking to a financial advisor can help you formulate a plan for saving and investing in order to build wealth. Your advisor can also guide you through the basics of making a budget and creating a workable debt payoff plan.
The Bottom Line
In terms of what income is considered rich, there’s no single number to go by. How you define being rich for yourself can depend on the amount of money you need to feel financially comfortable and how you use the income and assets that you have. To one person it means not worrying about money while to others it just means having enough money in retirement to not impact their lifestyle. Once you define what rich means to you then you can build a financial plan to help you reach that goal.
- Consider talking to your financial advisor about the best ways to approach financial planning if becoming rich or wealthy is one of your goals. If you don’t have a financial advisor yet, finding one doesn’t have to be hard. SmartAsset’s free tool matchesyou with up to three vetted financial advisors who serve your area, and you can interview your advisor matches at no cost to decide which one is right for you. If you’re ready to find an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.
- Earning a higher income can mean paying more in taxes. So while you might be rich from an income perspective, you could be handing back a large chunk of your earnings to the IRS. You can use SmartAsset’s free income tax calculator to estimate what you might owe.
Photo credit: ©iStock.com/Moyo Studio, ©iStock.com/Inside Creative House, ©iStock.com/recap-bg
Rebecca Lake, CEPF® Rebecca Lake is a retirement, investing and estate planning expert who has been writing about personal finance for a decade. Her expertise in the finance niche also extends to home buying, credit cards, banking and small business. She's worked directly with several major financial and insurance brands, including Citibank, Discover and AIG and her writing has appeared online at U.S. News and World Report, CreditCards.com and Investopedia. Rebecca is a graduate of the University of South Carolina and she also attended Charleston Southern University as a graduate student. Originally from central Virginia, she now lives on the North Carolina coast along with her two children.
FAQs
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. What Is a Rich Monthly Income?
Is $100000 considered rich? ›
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).
How much does the top 5% make? ›
From the top 5% to the top 1%
Salaries start to jump significantly the closer you get to the top 1%. 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.
Is a $5 million dollar net worth good? ›
Is $5 million considered rich? Statistically speaking, yes, having a total net worth of $5 million is considered rich. According to the latest survey from the US Federal Reserve, a net worth of $5 million puts you in the top 10% of households in the US by net worth. I'd say that's rich!
Is 200k a year rich? ›
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 $100000 a year? ›
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.”
Am I rich if I have $10 million dollars? ›
You might need $5 million to $10 million to qualify as having a very high net worth while it may take $30 million or more to be considered ultra-high net worth. That's how financial advisors typically view wealth.
What is the top 2% income in the US? ›
Across the US, the average income for the top 2% of all earners is $206,000.
What is top 3 percent income in US? ›
This section's factual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information.
| 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+) |
2 more rowsTo find out more about how many people make over 100k per year, we've gathered essential facts and data. According to our extensive research: 18% of individual Americans make over $100k per year. 34.4% of US households make over $100k per year.
The 4% rule suggests that a $1.5 million portfolio will provide for at least 30 years approximately $60,000 a year before taxes for you to live on in retirement. If you take more than this from your nest egg, it may run short; if you take less or your investments earn more, it may provide somewhat more income.
What percentage of US population has $3 million dollars? ›
There are roughly 5,671,005 households with $3 million or more in America, 4.41% of all US households.
Can I retire at 45 with $3 million dollars? ›
You can probably retire in financial comfort at age 45 if you have $3 million in savings. Although it's much younger than most people retire, that much money can likely generate adequate income for as long as you live.
How many Americans make over 150k? ›
Percentage distribution of household income in the United States in 2021
| 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% |
5 more rowsSep 30, 2022
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.
How rare is a 100k salary? ›
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.
What percentage of Americans have a net worth of $1000000? ›
Key points. There are 5.3 million millionaires and 770 billionaires living in the United States. Millionaires make up about 2% of the U.S. adult population. While an ultra-high net worth will be out of reach for most, you can amass $1 million by managing money well and investing regularly.
Are most millionaires married or single? ›
- Most millionaires work at Fortune 500 companies. ...
- Many poor people become millionaires by winning the lottery. ...
- Millionaires usually drive new cars. ...
- Many millionaires drop out of college to start work. ...
- Single people are more often millionaires than married people. ...
- It is impossible to save enough to be a millionaire.
While there are a few questions you'll need to answer before you can know definitively, the quick answer is that you can certainly retire on $5 million at age 65. Though you may have to make some adjustments, depending on your lifestyle.
Retiring at age 40 is entirely feasible if you have accumulated $5 million by that age. If the long-term future is much like the long-term past, you will be able to withdraw $200,000 the first year for living expenses and adjust that number up for inflation every year more or less forever without running out of money.
Is $2 million enough to retire at 60? ›
Yes, for some people, $2 million should be more than enough to retire. For others, $2 million may not even scratch the surface. The answer depends on your personal situation and there are lot of challenges you'll face. As of 2023, it seems the number of obstacles to a successful retirement continues to grow.
What income puts you in the 1%? ›
In fact, the average American household earns a median income of under $70,000, but in some places, the top 1% can earn as much as $955,000. Those annual earnings can seem far out of reach in a country where less than 10% of all households earn more than $200,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
What income is top 10% in US? ›
Top 10% income
The average earnings of those in the top 10% were roughly $173,000 in 2020, according to a study by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI).
How many people are in the top 1%? ›
Who Are the One Percent in the United States by Income and Net Worth?
- Net worth is the accurate measure of how much 'extra 'a household has accumulated. ...
- Depending on your preference, there are roughly 1,313,147 households in the top one percent or 1,760,941 workers.
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.
What is considered upper class in America? ›
In 2021, the median household income is roughly $68,000. An upper class income is usually considered at least 50% higher than the median household income. Therefore, an upper class income in America is $100,000 and higher.
What is the 99.9 percentile income? ›
On a global scale, adults making an annual income greater than $124,720 make it into the 99th percentile, meaning they make more than 99% of the worldwide population. People in America's top 1% make at least $336,953 in annual pre-tax income.
What percent of men make 6 figures? ›
And because of racial and gender wage gaps, women are less likely to reach the six-figure threshold compared with men. Just 11% of women make $100,000 or more on a national level, whereas 21% of men do.
How many Americans make 6 figures? ›
A minority of Americans make over $100,000 a year. According to Zippia, roughly 33.6% of Americans make six figures annually.
The same study found more than half of Americans making six-figure incomes — 51% — were living paycheck to paycheck in December. That's up from 42% the year before, so 2022 was not a good year financially for the highest earners.
Can I live off interest on a million dollars? ›
Once you have $1 million in assets, you can look seriously at living entirely off the returns of a portfolio. After all, the S&P 500 alone averages 10% returns per year. Setting aside taxes and down-year investment portfolio management, a $1 million index fund could provide $100,000 annually.
Can a couple retire at 62 with $1 million dollars? ›
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.
Can a couple retire at 65 with $1 million dollars? ›
It's definitely possible, but there are several factors to consider—including cost of living, the taxes you'll owe on your withdrawals, and how you want to live in retirement—when thinking about how much money you'll need to retire in the future.
Does net worth include home? ›
However, one measure that many overlook is net worth. Your net worth represents how much wealth you have, measured by assets like a house, cars, 401(k), jewelry or cash in the bank, minus the debt obligations you have, or what you owe.
What is the average age to become a millionaire? ›
This is according to a study conducted by Ramsey Solutions, which is the largest study of millionaires to date. The average age of a millionaire is 49 years old, which means it takes them over 27 years of saving and investing to reach this status. This may seem daunting, but the truth is, it's never too late to start.
What is the average age of millionaires? ›
How old is the average millionaire? The average millionaire is 57 years old. This is because it takes smart financial decisions, hard work, and wise investments to become a millionaire, most of which don't fully pay off until around the age of 50 or 60.
What age can you retire with $4 million? ›
Medicare is another valuable benefit that isn't available for most 55-year-old retirees. Until you reach the usual qualification age of 65, your post-retirement budget will have to include paying premiums for private health insurance. You can probably retire at 55 if you have $4 million in savings.
Can you live off the interest of 3 million dollars? ›
Living off the interest of $3 million is possible when you diversify your portfolio and pick the right investments. Here are six common investments and expected income for each year: Savings and money market accounts. Savings accounts are one of the most liquid places to hold your money besides a checking account.
At what age can you retire with $1 million dollars? ›
A recent analysis determined that a $1 million retirement nest egg may only last about 20 years depending on what state you live in. Based on this, if you retire at age 65 and live until you turn 84, $1 million will probably be enough retirement savings for you.
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.
Is 150k a good combined income? ›
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.
What percentage of American households make more than $500 000? ›
The top 1% represents about 1.3 million households who roughly make more than $500,000 a year -- out of a total of almost 130 million. The concentration of wealth in the hands of a fraction of the population is at the core of some of the country's major political battles.
How much does it cost to feel rich? ›
That's how financial advisors typically view wealth. The average American, on the other hand, sees $774,000 as a sufficient net worth to be financially comfortable and a net worth of $2.2 million to be wealthy, according to Schwab.
What is the perfect salary for happiness? ›
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.
Are you upper class if you are a millionaire? ›
Households with a net worth of $1 million or more may be classified as members of the upper class, depending on the definition of class used.
What income is top 5 percent? ›
Top 1% income threshold: $463,976
- Top 1% income threshold: $463,976.
- Top 5% income threshold: $202,000.
How Does Income Change with Age?
| Age Range | Top 10% | Top 5% |
|---|
| 20-24 | $71,268 | $86,540 |
| 25-29 | $105,884 | $134,392 |
| 30-34 | $146,609 | $175,116 |
| 35-39 | $185,297 | $247,403 |
7 more rowsJan 17, 2023
This is estimated to increase the number of individuals over the $100,000 threshold to reach 36.7% in 2023. Bar chart with 43 bars. The chart has 1 X axis displaying Year. Data ranges from 1981-01-12 00:00:00 to 2023-01-02 00:00:00.
What class are you if you make 100000? ›
For a single individual, $100,000 would actually put you in the upper-income level in most places. For household sizes between two and four, $100,000 a year would put you squarely in the middle class.
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.
What amount of money is considered wealthy? ›
You might need $5 million to $10 million to qualify as having a very high net worth while it may take $30 million or more to be considered ultra-high net worth. That's how financial advisors typically view wealth.
How many Americans make over $1 million? ›
21,951,000 people in the U.S. have a net worth of $1 million or more. Among all states, New Jersey has the most millionaire households. Only 3% of American millionaires received an inheritance of $1 million or above. Real estate makes up about 40% of a typical millionaire's net worth.
What is the salary of upper middle 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.
How common is a 6 figure salary? ›
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.
Is 150k a year upper class? ›
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.
How many men make $100,000? ›
13% of men earn $100K per year and above. Only 6% of women earn that much.
What is the top 10% income in the US? ›
Top 10% income
The average earnings of those in the top 10% were roughly $173,000 in 2020, according to a study by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). Landing in the top 10% is a fairly attainable goal for upwardly mobile Americans.
What percentage of Millennials make over 100k? ›
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.
At what point are you considered a millionaire? ›
A net-worth millionaire is someone who has a net worth of at least $1,000,000. Net worth is a fancy way to say 'what you own minus what you owe.
Your net worth is the value of all of your assets, minus the total of all of your liabilities. Put another way, it is what you own minus what you owe. If you owe more than you own, you have a negative net worth. If you own more than you owe you will have a positive net worth.
