What it takes to be in Arkansas' top 1%
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A household must make at least $450,700 to be among the top 1% of earners in Arkansas, according to a recent SmartAsset analysis of IRS tax filer data.
- That's $201,957, or about 31%, less than the national top 1% figure of $652,657.
The big picture: The top 1% of U.S. families by wealth held more than one-third of the country's total wealth in 2019, the Congressional Budget Office reported last year.
- Meanwhile, "families in the bottom half ... held only 2% of total wealth" in 2019, per the CBO report.
Zoom out: Nationally, joining the 1% club is most expensive in Connecticut, where households need to make at least $952,902 to qualify.
- It's cheapest in West Virginia, where $367,582 is required to be among elite earners.
Yes, but: Connecticut is also home to the highest effective tax rate for big earners: 28.4%.
- Of course, the ultrawealthy have myriad means of reducing their actual tax burdens.
The bottom line: The states with the highest 1% floors — Connecticut, Massachusetts, California, New Jersey and Washington — tend to be either home to or in commuter range of major tech and finance hubs, and thus the high-paying jobs those industries offer.