What it takes to be one of Texas' top earners
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If you're hoping to be in the top 1% of your state, moving out of Texas will give you a better shot.
Driving the news: A new SmartAsset analysis of IRS tax filer data captures where the country's wealthiest people are concentrated.
The big picture: The top 1% of U.S. families held more than a third of the country's total wealth in 2019, up from 27% in 1989, the Congressional Budget Office reported last year. Households in the bottom half of the distribution held only 2% of the country's wealth.
State of play: Southern states have some of the country's lowest income thresholds for their top 1%. But Texas is an exception, ranking 14th in the country for how much its residents have to make to be in the 1%.
- Texans need to earn more than $631,850 to be considered part of the state's 1%, per SmartAsset.
- By comparison, the income thresholds for all four of Texas' neighbors are in the $400,000s.
Yes, but: The more you make, the more you usually owe in taxes — unless you've figured out a loophole.
- Texas, where the 1% are taxed around 25.8%, ranks 12th for how much its top earners are taxed compared to other states.
Zoom out: You have to be rich rich — making more than $952,902 — to be considered the 1% in Connecticut, where the income threshold is the highest of any other state. The tax rate there for top earners is 28%.
- Washington, D.C., where people in the top 1% make more than $1 million, would take first place if it were a state.