The concept of the “one percent” has captured the American public’s imagination in the last few years. But precise as the phrase seems, most people don’t really know what the phrase “one percent” means.
Let’s try to answer that today: who are the top one percent by income and top one percent by net worth in the United States?
Who are the top one percent by income?
For a household, $434,454.80 is the cutoff for the top one percent by household income. However, there are quite a few ways to slice it.
Let’s briefly look at individual income, household income, and income by sex.
Income of the Top 10% and Top 1% by Sex and Type
| Percentile Threshold | 10.00% | 1.00% |
| Individual Income | $114,068.00 | $300,577.00 |
| Household Income | $178,793.00 | $434,454.80 |
| Female Workers | $90,742.00 | $234,910.00 |
| Male Workers | $135,300.00 | $370,916.00 |
You can find the original source (and methodology) in the calculators:
- Individual Income Percentile Calculator
- Household Income Percentile Calculator
- Individual Incomes for Males and Females Percentile Calculator
Individual, household, and sex isn’t the only way to break income down, however.
Here are calculators on income differences by age, race and Hispanic or Latino origin, and geographic differences. Age is an interesting one – since age is a proxy for experience, older workers generally make more than younger workers.
- Individual Income Percentile by Age Calculator
- (Household and Individual) Income Percentile by City
- (Individual and Household) Income Percentile by State
- (Household and Individual) Income Percentile by Race
The data in this section is from the 2018 Current Population Survey survey, which means income earned between January and December of 2017. We’ll have new data for 2019 as soon as it is posted.
Who are the top one percent by net worth?
The top one percent of household net worth starts at $10,374,030.10.
Net worth tends to have an even more extreme spread than income does. While many households in the United States have zero or negative net worth, the same isn’t true for income. Household income reflects transfer payments, while the government isn’t (really) in the business of transferring wealth.
Net Worth of the 10%, 1%, and .1% Households
| Percentile Threshold | 10.00% | 1.00% | 0.10% |
| Net Worth | $1,182,390.36 | $10,374,030.10 | $43,090,281.00 |
Looking at the one percent by net worth is more useful than income. If we had our way, a view of the top 10%, 1%, and .1% would concentrate on accumulated wealth not affluence.
This data comes from the 2016 Survey of Consumer Finances from the Federal Reserve. (This is the newest data in 2019, we don’t expect an update until 2020). We calculated these breakpoints for our top American net worths and net worth percentiles article.
Does top one percent mean by income or by net worth?
Net worth is a better way to rank the top one percent than income.
If you do use income to determine the top one percent of individuals, individual income is the best choice for determining the one percent.
Net worth is a better way to rank the top one percent than income.
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Household income disguises the true income figure when there are multiple earners in a household. For example, a household may have two working spouses or a Millennial living at home. Household income also doesn’t account for the spending difference in household sizes.
Using net worth to decide on the one percent threshold is even better.
Household net worth sidesteps spending and cost of living questions because net worth is by definition not spent. Regardless of household size or location, net worth is always unspent resources.
Net worth is a true measure of how much ‘extra‘ a household has accumulated. (Top one percent net worth households show up as a hockey stick in inequality, too.)
There is some correlation between wealth and income, but it’s not as high as you might suspect – and it changes by age. Wealth is truly the marker of the highest strata.
One interesting stat: going from the top 10% of wealth to the top 1% requires an large jump while income “only” requires a much smaller bump.
What’s your preferred measure? Who are the one percent?