# How many people make over 250K a year? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 19, 2008, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-make-over-250k-a-year/464248 "2008-09-19T02:04:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-make-over-250k-a-year/464248/1 "2008-09-19T02:04:31Z")
How many individual Americans make over $250,000.00 a year? Is it really only about 5% of taxpayers? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-make-over-250k-a-year/464248/2 "2008-09-19T02:15:13Z")
That question is more complicated than you think. Individuals versus households are one issue but bigger issues are things like paper gains that are not liquid and could go ‘poof’ in an instant (a small business and stock gains are but a couple of examples). The most literal way to take your question is simply by salary for one person in the household. Is that what you want? Do you care if it is consistent? Lots of people get one-time windfalls from family and home sales. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-make-over-250k-a-year/464248/3 "2008-09-19T02:29:05Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > How many individual Americans make over $250,000.00 a year? Is it really only about 5% of taxpayers? For individuals, it is much less. [In 2004, the top five percent](http://pubdb3.census.gov/macro/032005/hhinc/new05_000.htm) made over $157,000 per year. The percent making making over $250,000 would be much less, maybe 2%. ETA: Sorry, that table is for households. ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-make-over-250k-a-year/464248/4 "2008-09-19T02:36:02Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > How many individual Americans make over $250,000.00 a year? Is it really only about 5% of taxpayers? Interestingly, as many as 5-7% of US households may have a net worth of over $1,000,000. A reminder again that income is not the same as wealth. > **[Millionaire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_millionaires)** > > A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. Depending on the currency, a certain level of prestige is associated with being a millionaire. > Many national currencies have, or have had at various times, a low unit value, in many cases due to past inflation. It is much easier and less significant to be a millionaire in those currencies, thus a millionaire in the local currency of Hong Kong or Taiwan, for example, may be merely o At... ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-make-over-250k-a-year/464248/5 "2008-09-19T02:45:49Z")
[In 2006, the top 5% of households](http://pubdb3.census.gov/macro/032006/hhinc/new05_000.htm) made $166,000 or more. The mean number of earners in that category was 2. So individual earners making more than 250,000 would be a very small percentage of all wage earners in the country.