According to the latest data from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), almost 1.5 million households belong to the top 1% of earners in the US. The average annual income required to be in the exclusive group varies by state. A recent study by SmartAsset used the latest IRS tax return data to reveal the income threshold to join the 1% in every US state.
The data, from the 2022 tax year with incomes adjusted for inflation as of 2025, show a clear difference between states with a high concentration of wealth and those without.
In this gallery, we list the top 30 states where the annual income needed to be in the top 1% is the highest. Want to know which states are on the list? Click to find out!
All figures are in USD.