# $250 K or more

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-k-or-more/469239>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 23, 2008, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-k-or-more/469239 "2008-10-23T18:16:32Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 10\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-k-or-more/469239/1 "2008-10-23T18:16:32Z")

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What percentage of US households make more than $250,000 per year?

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**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-k-or-more/469239/2 "2008-10-23T18:20:10Z")

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> [@Walloon](#):
>
> What percentage of US households make more than $250,000 per year?

Looks like \< 1.5%: [Household income in the United States - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_States)

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**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-k-or-more/469239/3 "2008-10-23T18:28:18Z")

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Thanks.

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**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-k-or-more/469239/4 "2008-10-23T18:37:48Z")

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Where does the 95% come from?

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**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-k-or-more/469239/5 "2008-10-23T18:41:01Z")

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Where does what 95% come from?

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-k-or-more/469239/6 "2008-10-23T18:43:23Z")

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One of Obama’s big talking points is that under his plan, 95% of Americans, everyone earning $250,000 or less, would receive a tax cut.

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**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-k-or-more/469239/7 "2008-10-23T18:45:05Z")

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I believe the actual claim is that 95% of American families will receive a tax cut, and nobody under $250,000 will see their taxes go UP. There is a range (about 4.5% apparently) that would not see a cut or an increase.

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**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-k-or-more/469239/8 "2008-10-23T18:46:16Z")

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> [@Chronos](#):
>
> One of Obama’s big talking points is that under his plan, 95% of Americans, everyone earning $250,000 or less, would receive a tax cut.

I would hazard a guess that he’s being conservative. No pun intended. He doesn’t want some number wonk to call him on the precise number of households making more than 250K, so he’s backed off a bit, and besides, there are probably tax code issues that change the percentage a bit…

ETA: **Jas09** makes a good point.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-k-or-more/469239/9 "2008-10-23T18:51:32Z")

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A related question:

When are the tax rates published for a given year? I’m assuming it’s pretty close to the time they’re decided?

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**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-k-or-more/469239/10 "2008-10-23T18:55:10Z")

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Another related, if you don’t mind… is that $250K per taxpayer or household? If per person, is there a number for joint returns?