What does it take to be considered rich in America? It depends a lot on where you live.
The richest of the rich live in Washington, D.C., where it takes a salary of $719,000 to land in the top 5% of earners. That’s according to a recent analysis from GoBankingRates, which looks at the average household income of the top 5% of earners in each state, based on the latest data available from the 2022 American Community Survey.
The No. 1 richest state, meanwhile, is Connecticut, where residents have to bring in roughly $656,000 to be among the top earners.
Washington state has seen the most dramatic growth in what it takes to be rich in recent years, according to the report. In 2017, a salary of about $378,000 would land you in the 5% club. By 2022, the salary it takes to stay at that level is more than $544,000.
The roughly 44% increase can be attributed to growing wealth in Seattle, which has become a tech hub with fast-growing companies like Amazon headquartered in the area, says Andrew Murray, lead data content researcher at GoBankingRates.
Overall, wealthy Americans have gotten a lot richer in since 2017. Back then, only Connecticut and Washington, D.C., had a 5% top-earning threshold of $500,000.
Five years later, that’s up to 11 U.S. states and D.C.: Washington, California, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Virginia, Colorado, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Maryland and Connecticut.
This mostly has to do with the fiscal response to the pandemic, Murray says: “Robust Covid relief bolstered the economy, leading to boosted stock prices, real estate and savings. These conditions were especially favorable for the wealthiest of Americans who saw their already large incomes spike dramatically.”
Not everyone has benefited equally. While employers did boost wages for some of the lowest-paid workers in the pandemic recovery, “their overall wealth share in the country actually decreased, as the rich became much richer,” Murray says.
Here’s the salary it takes to be considered in the top 5% of earners in each state, listed alphabetically, plus Washington, DC:
Alabama
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $370,977
Alaska
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $424,278
Arizona
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $435,414
Arkansas
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $377,043
California
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $613,602
Colorado
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $507,181
Connecticut
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $656,438
Delaware
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $442,860
Florida
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $476,546
Georgia
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $455,439
Hawaii
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $500,183
Idaho
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $402,743
Illinois
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $503,970
Indiana
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $381,422
Iowa
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $386,152
Kansas
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $415,875
Kentucky
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $380,726
Louisiana
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $384,432
Maine
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $396,205
Maryland
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $540,934
Massachusetts
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $617,199
Michigan
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $406,657
Minnesota
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $476,290
Mississippi
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $333,597
Missouri
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $404,080
Montana
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $411,205
Nebraska
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $420,169
Nevada
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $449,872
New Hampshire
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $485,660
New Jersey
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $613,494
New Mexico
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $353,104
New York
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $621,301
North Carolina
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $429,071
North Dakota
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $418,541
Ohio
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $403,750
Oklahoma
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $377,724
Oregon
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $448,649
Pennsylvania
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $454,639
Rhode Island
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $453,192
South Carolina
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $408,138
South Dakota
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $392,724
Tennessee
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $418,421
Texas
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $464,859
Utah
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $463,437
Vermont
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $405,333
Virginia
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $531,035
Washington
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $544,518
Washington, D.C.
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $719,253
West Virginia
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $329,620
Wisconsin
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $403,055
Wyoming
- 2022 average income of the top 5%: $$407,646
Want to land your dream job in 2024? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Ace Your Job Interview to learn what hiring managers are really looking for, body language techniques, what to say and not to say, and the best way to talk about pay.
Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.
Read the full article here