When you read all those accounts of the top 1%, or even the top 5% or 10%, you might wonder about the amount of money it takes to fit into such categories. Now, data from the Economic Policy Institute says that you must have a six-figure income to make it to the list of the top earners in the country.
Annual Salary Of Highest Earners
The EPI data says that the yearly wages of the top 1% rose to USD 823,763 in 2020, 7.3% more than what they earned in 2019.
So what salary must you have to be in the top 0.1%?
A substantial USD 3,212,486 is over 10% more than that group made the year prior. Over the same period, wages for the lowest 90% increased just by 1.7%, with an average income of UD 40,085.
The top 1% of earners have seen their incomes increase by 179% since 1979, and the top 0.1% have seen their wages increase by 389%, according to EPI research. Pay for the lowest 90% category only increased by 28%. EPI got the figures from the recent Social Security Administration data.
Effects Of Financial Crisis
The wealthiest 0.1% and 1% of earners respectively saw their salaries decline the most during the 2007-2009 financial crisis. The richest 0.1% still needed to reach their 2007 earnings in 2020. Since 2007, salaries for the top 5% of earners have increased by 13.4%. The top 10% experienced a 16.5% growth.
The COVID-19 Effect
Despite the pandemic hammering the United States economy, the rich have continued to get richer. From March to December 2021, this 1% wealthiest Americans got richer by USD 4.5 trillion.
Another Federal Reserve says that till 2021, the country’s wealth was more controlled by the top 1% of individuals than the 60% of American middle households, who possessed a share of 26.8%.
Income Inequality
As noted by the EPI, “The bottom 90% made up 69.8% of all incomes in 1979 but only 60.2% in 2020. But from 7.3% in 1979 to 13.8% in 2020, the top 1% share of earnings doubled.”
The EPI also said that from 1.6% in 1979 to 5.4% in 2020, the share of earnings of this top 0.1% more than tripled.
Is The Wealthy Getting Wealthier?
The wages of the top 1% increased by 119.2% between 1979 and 2020, whereas the rate of rise for the top 0.1% was more than twice as high: 389.1%. The bottom 90% saw a growth of 28.2% around the same period. The upward wage distribution from the bottom 90% to the top 1.0% from 1979 to 2019 reached a significant level in 2020, producing historically high wage levels and shares of all wages for the top 1.0% and 0.1%.
How Much Salary Would I Need To Earn To Be In The Top 0.1%?
Roughly USD 3.21 million in a year. As of 2020, this is an all-time high, and 2021 is expected to break yet another record.
How Many People Are Billionaires?
The global count has declined by 87, according to Forbes’ annual list of the world’s wealthiest people published in 2022. And thousands of them have more money now than they did in 2021.
735 Americans are billionaires, more than any other nation. China is just a little behind at 607, which includes Hong Kong and Macao. Only eight African Americans are among the country’s billionaires. These include businesspeople Robert F Smith and David Steward, Oprah Winfrey, Kanye West, Rihanna, Michael Jordan, Jay-Z, and Tyler Perry.
The Conclusion
Since 1979, the wealthiest Americans saw their wealth increasing more quickly than the rest of the population. Despite a series of changes in the salary ranges in the last 42 years, the income gap between the richest and lowest incomes still remains at large.