Wealth and income percentiles in United States
How much net worth or income does it take to be in the top 10% or top 1% in the United States? Model estimates for 262.7 million adults aged 20+, reference level 2025.
Net worth thresholds in United States
Net worth is private assets (property, deposits, securities, business ownership) minus debt, per adult. Thresholds show the minimum net worth needed to belong to each group.
| Group of adults | Threshold, USD |
|---|---|
| Median (top 50%) | USD 65,600 |
| Top 10% | USD 902,000 |
| Top 5% | USD 1,850,000 |
| Top 1% | USD 5,750,000 |
| Top 0.1% | USD 30,800,000 |
| Average (mean) | USD 542,000 |
Income thresholds in United States
Income is a harmonized pre-tax economic income per adult used for cross-country comparison. It is broader than wages and includes capital income, pensions and some imputed components.
| Group of adults | Threshold, USD |
|---|---|
| Median (top 50%) | USD 50,100 |
| Top 10% | USD 160,000 |
| Top 5% | USD 251,000 |
| Top 1% | USD 713,000 |
| Top 0.1% | USD 3,150,000 |
| Average (mean) | USD 96,900 |
United States in a global context
United States has 4.75% of the world’s adults. About 41.0% of them are in the world’s top 10% by net worth and 7.9% are in the global top 1%. By income, the shares are 59.7% and 8.8%.
The median adult in the United States is in the global top 17.4% by net worth and the global top 7.9% by income. United States is home to about 37.71% of the world’s top 1% by net worth.
Data quality and sources
Scores run from 1 (strong direct national source coverage) to 5 (mainly modelled).
| Measure | Score | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Net worth | 3 | SCF provides direct family net worth, but only a few thresholds are imported in this track and the extreme top is supplemented with model/rich-list data. |
| Income | 3 | The Federal Reserve SCF is an official national survey, but the implemented curve uses only a few direct thresholds for family income and must extrapolate the upper tail. |
- Federal Reserve - Survey of Consumer Finances 2022
- Forbes 400 - 2026
- Federal Reserve - Survey of Consumer Finances 2022
The calculator also offers a national source track for the United States based on official national statistics (Advanced options → Comparison basis). National tracks use their own definitions and are not added to the global total.
Amounts are converted at fixed exchange rates of 2025-12-31; they do not adjust for purchasing power. Thresholds in the extreme top are modelled and uncertain.
Frequently asked questions
How much net worth do you need to be in the top 1% in the United States?
About USD 5,750,000 in net worth (assets minus debt) per adult, according to the WealthPercentile model for 2025. The top 10% starts at about USD 902,000.
What is the median income in the United States?
The median adult in the United States has a broad pre-tax economic income of about USD 50,100 a year. This measure is broader than wages: it includes capital income and some imputed components, so it is higher than a typical payslip.
How many adults in the United States are in the global top 1%?
About 7.9% of adults in the United States are in the world’s top 1% by net worth, and 8.8% by income.
How reliable are these numbers?
They are model estimates. The data-quality score for the United States is 3/5 for net worth and 3/5 for income, where 1 means strong direct source coverage and 5 means mainly modelled.