The nation’s capital emerged as the location with the highest threshold to be the top one percent of earners, a new study found.
The new study by personal finance site SmartAsset analyzed households that bring in enough money annually to be considered among the top one percent of earners in each state and the nation’s capital. The study was based on the 2022 tax return data, the latest available from the IRS, and adjusted for 2025 dollars.
The study found the District of Columbia has the highest necessary threshold to rank as a top earner, where a household needs an income of about $1.07 million, according to SmartAsset. Only about 3,300 households in D.C. qualify.
There’s only one other location where it takes more than $1 million to fall under the category. Connecticut falls in a close second, whose residents must earn roughly $1.06 annually to be in the top 1 percent.
Nationwide, there are about 1.5 million households that bring in enough income to be among the top one percent if earners in their state. The average threshold to rank among the nation’s top earners is $731,000 — and in 11 states and the District of Columbia, you’ll need more than that.
West Virginia proved to be the state with the lowest income needed to be considered the top one percent of earners in the state. There, residents would need to earn $416,300 annually to fall under the category, and about 7,300 households fall into that category.
Only three other states — Mississippi, New Mexico, and Kentucky — would have a household income under half a million dollars push a household into the top earners group.
SmartAsset this year also found that a single person living in the nation’s largest cities would need an income of at least $85,000 to “live comfortably,” and a family of four would need about $200,000 to do the same.
The data comes as inflation continues to put more pressure on households nationwide. While President Trump has pressed for lower interest rates, economists warn such a move could drive inflation higher. Trump insisted, though, that inflation has settled, and he is pressing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to lower interest rates.
Still, Americans are largely happy with the way Trump has handled inflation as he marks six months into his second term, with 64 percent in a CBS News/YouGov poll released Sunday saying they disapprove of how the president is handling the issue.
