Here's how much money it takes to be 'rich' in NY, NJ, CT for 2024 (2024)

FAQs

What is considered high net worth in 2024? ›

A high-net-worth individual is a person with at least $1 million in liquid financial assets. An ultra-high-net-worth individual has a net worth of more than $30 million.

After West Virginia, Mississippi had the second-lowest threshold for joining its top-earning households, at $333,597, according to GoBankingRates. Meanwhile, joining the 5% of earners requires considerably more in many Eastern states, with Connecticut's threshold at $656,438 and New York at $621,301, the study found.

New Jersey stands out with the highest threshold for the top 20% of earners. An individual in New Jersey must make at least $180,558 annually to be considered in this upper tier. This reflects the state's high cost of living and affluent communities, particularly those near New York City.

Being in the top 20% of earners in California means making at least $171,387 a year. The Golden State, known for its pricey real estate and high cost of living, particularly in cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles, demands a substantial income to be considered wealthy.

With that in mind, a net worth of $604,900 would put you in the upper 25% of American households and having $1 million or more should make you firmly a member of the upper class. Of course, it's important to remember that net worth is calculated by adding up your assets and then subtracting your liabilities.

Your household would need to earn at least $64,224 to be considered middle class in the Garden State, and earning more than $192,692 would put you in the upper class.

Your income puts you in the upper half of American earners, well above the median household income of $74,580, per Census data.

In Connecticut, households need to earn an annual income of $952,902 or more to be part of the top 1% of earners.

New Jersey ranks number 1 out of 50 states nationwide for 200K salaries. To estimate the most accurate annual salary range for 200K jobs, ZipRecruiter continuously scans its database of millions of active jobs published locally throughout America. Find your next high paying job as a 200K on ZipRecruiter today.

At what point are you considered wealthy? ›

You might need $5 million to $10 million to qualify as having a very high net worth while it may take $30 million or more to be considered ultra-high net worth. That's how financial advisors typically view wealth.

Three New Jersey residents are among the list of world billionaires in 2024, according to Forbes. Rocco Commisso, John Overdeck and Peter Kellogg are on the annual list compiled by the business magazine. This year's list features a record 2,781 billionaires, with 813 from the United States, the most of any country.

According to IRS standards, a monthly income of approximately $45,000 qualifies someone as wealthy. However, if you're aiming for the top 1% as measured by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), you'd need to earn about $68,277 monthly.

From 1987 to 2019, Connecticut was the richest state in the US as measured by per capita personal income. In 2020, it lost out — by $10 — to neighboring Massachusetts.

State income tax data was sourced from Tax Foundation's State Income Tax Rates. States that are friendlier to the rich included those without a state income tax, such as Nevada, Tennessee and Washington. States that were less friendly included Oregon, New Jersey and Illinois.

Bottom Line. In today's society, high-net-worth individuals are generally defined as those with a net worth of between $1 million and $5 million, and often have access to financial services beyond traditional banking and investing services at commercial banks and credit unions.

America accounts for 32% of global liquid investable wealth — a colossal USD 67 trillion, according to the 2024 USA Wealth Report published by global wealth advisory firm Henley & Partners.

About 16 million American families—just over 12%—have wealth exceeding $1 million, up from 9.8 million families in 2019. Nearly eight million families are multimillionaires, i.e., their wealth exceeds $2 million, up from 4.7 million.

By 2026, there will be more than 87.5 million people with at least $1 million in wealth, up from 62.5 million in 2021, according to Credit Suisse Group AG's Global Wealth Report 2022 released on Tuesday.