That’s How Much You Have to Make to Be Part of CA 1%

A newly published report illustrates how much it takes to be part of the 1% in your home state.

By Robert Gauna

A report by the Economic Policy Institute shows that it takes a lot to be part of the 1 %. In California, it takes around $438,000 of annual income to get into the State’s top 1 percent.

Other specific findings in the report include:

• The states in which all income growth between 2009 and 2012 accrued to the top 1 percent include Delaware, Florida, Missouri, South Carolina, North Carolina, Connecticut, Washington, Louisiana, California, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Idaho, Massachusetts, Colorado, New York, Rhode Island and Nevada.
• The remaining states in which the top 1 percent captured half or more of income growth between 2009 and 2012 include Alabama (where 98.9 percent of all income growth was captured by the top 1 percent), Illinois (97.2 percent), Texas (86.8 percent), Arkansas (83.7 percent), Michigan (82.0 percent), New Jersey (80.5 percent), Maryland (80.5 percent), Nebraska (74.9 percent), Kansas (74.4 percent), Ohio (71.9 percent), Wisconsin (69.6 percent), Oklahoma (69.2 percent), Tennessee (68.5 percent), Iowa (65.0 percent), Georgia (63.6 percent), New Hampshire (59.5 percent), Arizona (59.0 percent), Maine (58.3 per cent), Oregon (57.3 percent), Utah (56.6 percent), Minnesota (56.0 percent), and South Dakota (53.4 percent).

After incomes at all levels declined as a result of the Great Recession, income growth has been lopsided since the recovery began in 2009, with the top 1 percent capturing an alarming share of economic growth.

University of California at Berkeley economist Emmanuel Saez estimates that between 2009 and 2012, the top 1 percent captured 95 percent of total income growth.

You can read the full report here.