How many Americans make over $1 million a year?
In the 2019 data, there were 222 households that made over $50 million. In 2020, it was 358. In 2020, there were 184,631 households with wages over $1 million. 117,713 households hit that number in 2021.
Additionally, statistics show that the top 2% of the United States population has a net worth of about $2.4 million. On the other hand, the top 5% wealthiest Americans have a net worth of just over $1 million. Therefore, about 2% of the population possesses enough wealth to meet the current definition of being rich.
- Investment banker.
- Certified public accountant.
- Entrepreneur.
- Day trader.
- Real estate agent.
- Engineer.
- Lawyer.
- Actuary.
How many $4 or $5 millionaires are there in the US? Somewhere around 4,473,836 households have $4 million or more in wealth, while around 3,592,054 have at least $5 million.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Americans say it takes $2.2 million to qualify as wealthy these days, according to Charles Schwab's (SCHW) 2023 Modern Wealth survey. When Schwab started doing the survey in 2017, respondents said it took $2.4 million to be considered wealthy.
You'll fall into the highest tax bracket in the year you win if you take the jackpot in a lump sum. As of 2022, this means you'll likely owe the IRS at least 37% in taxes.
How common is a million dollar salary?
Have you ever wondered who makes a million dollars a year? Making a million dollars a year or more puts you in the top 0.1% of income earners in the world. A top 1% income is over $500,000 today in America. With such an income, you should eventually have at least a top 1% net worth of over $11 million per person.
According to the New York Times, having $1 million puts you in nearly the 90th percentile of household wealth in the U.S. (the 50th percentile is $127,000). It's not surprising that most people don't have $1 million because unless you make a ton of money, it is tough to save that much.
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.
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.
Schwab's 2023 Modern Wealth Survey asked 1,000 Americans to estimate the average net worth required to reach the ranks of the rich and to be considered wealthy in America, and it turns out you need at least $2.2 million to your name.
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.
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.
By the time you reach age 40, prevailing wisdom says you should have a net worth equal to about twice your annual salary. Hopefully, you climbed the salary ladder a bit in your 30s, too. If you're making $80,000 annually, for example, your goal should be to have a net worth of $160,000 at age 40.
| 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+) | ||
| Household Income Percentile | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|
| 2% | $700 | $800 |
| 3% | $3,943 | $4,165 |
| 4% | $7,182 | $7,200 |
| 5% | $9,474 | $9,372 |
What is the top 1% income in the world?
According to Credit Suisse, individuals with more than $1 million in wealth sit in the top 1 percent bracket. The billionaire class is $2.6 trillion richer than before the pandemic, even if billionaire fortunes slightly fell in 2022 after their record-smashing peak in 2021.
Among nearly 18,000 physician respondents polled by Medscape, the proportion of those reporting a net worth greater than $1 million increased from 50% the previous year to 56% in 2020.
American households kept an average of $41,600 in their transaction accounts in 2019. Meanwhile, the median balance was $5,300. The personal saving rate in the U.S. is currently at 3.4%. This refers to the average percentage of income Americans set aside for their savings.
More? Financial planners often recommend replacing about 80% of your pre-retirement income to sustain the same lifestyle after you retire. This means that, if you earn $100,000 per year, you'd aim for at least $80,000 of income (in today's dollars) in retirement.
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.
Can you live off of $2 million in assets? The answer is yes, if you manage your investment portfolio smartly. One common option is to invest $2 million in an index fund. But you will still need to make absolutely sure that you have a rainy day fund since the market can be reliable over decades but fickle over years.
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.
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.
To feel wealthy, Americans say you need a net worth of at least $2.2 million on average, according to financial services company Charles Schwab's annual Modern Wealth Survey. But even if you have that much in the bank, it might not be enough to be considered rich in certain places, the survey found.
1,821,745 Households in the United States Have Investment Portfolios Worth $3,000,000 or More.
Can a doctor make $1 million a year?
Across the board according to the 2021 physician wealth report, 56% of physicians reported a net worth of over a million. Out of family physicians, the majority become millionaires by the age of 55, with only 11% having a net worth of a million before 45.
How much do I pay in taxes if I win 1,000,000? If your gross prize for lump sum payout is $1,000,000, you need to pay $334,072 in total tax ($240,000 federal withholding, plus the remaining $94,072 for single filing status in 2021).
NOTE: The 7.65% tax rate is the combined rate for Social Security and Medicare. The Social Security portion (OASDI) is 6.20% on earnings up to the applicable taxable maximum amount (see below). The Medicare portion (HI) is 1.45% on all earnings.
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.
According to the Schroders 2023 U.S. Retirement Survey, working Americans age 45 and older expect they will need about $1.1 million in savings in order to retire, but only 21% of people in that age group expect to have even $1 million. That's down slightly from the 24% in 2022 who said they expected to save that much.
| 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+) | ||
In 2020, about 10.1 million households in the United States had an income of 200,000 U.S. dollars or more a year. Another 22.43 million households however, had an income of less than 25,000 U.S. dollars in the same year, The total number of households in the U.S. since 1960 can be found here.
