Here's how much Utahns have to earn to be in the top 1%
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Utahns must earn almost $800,000 annually to be in the top 1% of households in the state.
Follow the money: Utah's median household income is nearly $87,000 — adjusted in 2022 dollars — per census data from 2018 to 2022, reflecting a wide income gap.
Zoom in: Nurse practitioners, construction managers, information systems managers, electrical engineers and dental hygienists are among the top five highest-paying occupations in the state, per KSL Jobs.
The big picture: Utah is in line with the average for the rest of the U.S. as Americans need to make around $800,000 to be part of the top 1% of households nationally — but the bar varies considerably by state.
- Washington, D.C., has the highest threshold for one-percenters, at about $1.22 million.
- Connecticut ($1.17 million), Massachusetts ($1.13 million) and California ($1.05 million) follow.
The other side: West Virginians need to make about $426,000 to be in their state's 1%.
How it works: These figures are based on adjusted gross income (AGI) reported on tax filings in the 2021 tax year, adjusted to 2024 dollars.
- Close to 14,000 Utah returns met the 1% threshold.
Between the lines: The variance among states is tied in part to local economic factors, like job opportunities and wealth concentration.
- West Virginia's floor may be low, for example — but the total AGI per tax return there was about $60,300 in 2021, compared with $112,500 for California.