What percentage of US population earn(s)over 100K? (Asking for FReephelp, please)

6/16/04 | me

[patiodaddio]

Asking for FReeper help to answer my boss's question, Thank you in advance!

[Conservinator]

According to the latest IRS information at www.irs.gov (for tax year 2001) there were 130,904,889 individual tax returns filed, with the top ten percent break at approximately $92,500 in adjusted gross income. That being the case, there should be around 13,090,489 filers making $92,500 or above. That is the closest I can get you in just a few minutes research.

[Humidston]

I dunno, but according to Rush Limbaugh's site, 96.03 of taxes are paid by the top 50% of wage earners.

Mind blower! It's on his home page, complete with links and pie chart if anyone's interested.

[Yo-Yo]

Appreciate that! Yes, google is our friend, but having the brain(?) to read those graphs helps, too!

Sorry! Didn't mean to sound so flip! Try this table.

I think you'll find that in 2002 (latest data) there were 111,278 housholds in the US, and 15,675 of them had incomes of $100,000 or more.

15,676/111,278 = 0.1409, or 14% of US households.

[Cooter]

According to the pdf file titled "Income in the United States: 2002(P60-221)," 14.1% of households had income over $100,000 in 2002. This info is on page 17 of the report.

See www.census.gov

[MainFrame65]

Actually, many of the returns at this level represent sole proprietorships - businesses rather than wage-earners, that operate without incorporation. That is one of the main reasons that the tax cut was so effective at stimulating the economy.

[Yo-Yo]

I think you'll find that in 2002 (latest data) there were 111,278 housholds in the US, and 15,675 of them had incomes of $100,000 or more.

Slight problem with decimal places. That table has housholds in thousands so there are a total of 111,278,000 total households, and 15,675,000 at $100,000 or above income levels. The percentage math remains the same at 14%, however, which was your original question!

[lilylangtree]

Contacting the Department of Labor

By Mail
U.S. Department of Labor
200 Constitution Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20210

By Phone

National Toll-Free Call Center. Live assistance is available Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time by calling, 1-866-4-USA-DOL, TTY: 1-877-889-5627.

[patiodaddio]

WILL DO!

[Question_Assumptions]

Part of the problem is that $100,000 in most of New Jersey or the San Francisco Bay Area is not the same as $100,000 in Kansas or Iowa. In some parts of the country, you can get a nice house for $50,000. In other parts of the contry, you can't even buy any house at that price.

Of course what makes this all really absurd is that it's the parts of the country where $100,000 per year is essentially "middle-class" (e.g., the Northeast, Chicago, West Coast cities, etc.) that will vote for Kerry to "get the rich" while the parts of the country where $100,000 per year probably would qualify someone as "well off" will vote for Bush. Of course most of the wealthy states that will vote for Kerry also run a net loss with Washington, often sending their money off to states that will vote for Bush.

[sphinx]

Ok, a serious question. I am moderately familiar with the census and treasury/IRS income distribution tables, having had frequent occasions to dig out this information over the years. Unfortunately, however, they list the data by return or by household. As y'all know, this leaves the individual/joint income question dangling, and it's an important one. Given my non-technical needs, I can usually write around that ambiguity without much trouble, but it would be nice to nail it.

I will be indebted to anyone who knows a good source on this.

[NetValue]

"according to Rush Limbaugh's site, 96.03 of taxes are paid by the top 50% of wage earners."

Welcome to the world of sad truths. The lower half of income earners in the US make up about 4% of all the taxes paid. Plus, if you earn little enough and have kids, the taxpayers pay you through a welfare system called the Earned Income Tax Credit. America is good to the poor. In an earlier day all Americans were obliged to pay some tax. Not anymore!

[familyofman]

If you add me to your survey - you have 50% earning over $100k a year. Anecdotal studies are soooo meaningful.

[Mr. Jeeves]

Part of the problem is that $100,000 in most of New Jersey or the San Francisco Bay Area is not the same as $100,000 in Kansas or Iowa. In some parts of the country, you can get a nice house for $50,000. In other parts of the contry, you can't even buy any house at that price.

That's for sure. My coworker's double-wide mobile home fifty miles from San Francisco is worth $60,000 - and he feels like he got it cheap. Middle class starts at about $250K/year in the Bay Area.

[Question_Assumptions]

Friends of mine recently got a fairly old and small ranch in the SF suburbs across the bay for quite a bit more than they had spent just a few years before for a McMansion in Northern Virginia. I'm from New Jersey and I've lived in Tokyo and the Bay Area prices frighten me. :-)

[surely_you_jest]

Are you sure you are looking for earned income (primarily salaries and wages, which are also subject to Social Security and Medicare taxes) as opposed to all taxable income, which would include some forms of unearned income (capital gains, dividends, interest, pensions, etc,, which can be treated differently rate-wise, and which are not subject to Social Security and Medicare)? There is a big difference. Just looking at earned income greater than $100K a year is going to give you a much smaller universe than filers with greater than $100K a year that is taxable.

[Phinanceguy]

Making over $100K per year is only alot if you don't make that. Despite GWB's tax cuts, they kill you.

[middie]

Accepting anything stated by that demagogic idiot as fact is more folly.

[BlessedByLiberty]

Just arrived - interested to know single and / or joint filing stats. For example a postman and teacher would certainly fit in as do most couples working in civil servant positions.

[patiodaddio]

Filing status wasn't asked. Thank you all for such a robust response to (what I thought was) a simple question. FReepers are the best, and I'm humbled, (and a bit chastised too!)

[patiodaddio]

Oh! Now get back to saving the world!