LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — What does it take to join the 1% club? It depends on where you live.
According to the personal finance website SmartAsset.com, the top 1% of earners can be found in the coastal states — both East and West Coasts — where major cities are located.
The study is based on IRS income data from 2018, with numbers adjusted to 2021 dollars using the Consumer Price Index from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
At the top of the scale, you’ll find the highest thresholds for one-percenters in the Northeast, with Connecticut ($896,490), Massachusetts ($810,256), New York ($777,126) and New Jersey ($760,462) in the lead. Rounding out the top five is California, where a resident would need a minimum income of $745,314 to be considered among the top 1% of earners.
Washington sits just outside the top five states at No. 6, with the top 1% of earners bringing in about $685,128 annually. The top 1% of earners in Oregon take home about $517,607 per year, making them just inside the top half of U.S. states in the study.
Find the rest of the study’s results below in this interactive map:
The bottom five on the list include West Virginia ($350,212), Mississippi ($361,462), New Mexico ($384,427), Arkansas ($411,633) and Kentucky ($412,836).
Nationwide, the top 1% earns double that of the top 5%. The minimum income level required to join the top 1% of earners in the country as a whole ($597,815) is 2.48 times higher than the threshold needed to make it into the top 5% of earners nationwide ($240,712), according to the findings.
But how much in taxes do the top-earners pay?
Top earners pay a share of at least 25% of the total income tax in their states. Nevada's one-percenters pay the highest total income tax share — 50.1% — of all 50 states. Nationally, the top 1% of earners contribute to 35.79% of all individual income taxes paid.