Based on the Internal Revenue Service’s database, Financial Samurai write an excellent article about how much the top income earners make. To be the 1% one needs to make $380,354, and to be in top 5%, it is $159,619. To be above 50%, one only needs to earn around $33,000 per year. While it’s the trend to complain about the top 1% of tax payers, but they pay nearly 38% of all the income taxes. If you earn less than $33,000, you can join the above-average income earners by moving to high-tech locations where the average salary is way above average. You can also try to work more than 40 hours a week and to upgrade your skills constantly in order to get ahead. After all, there are still many six-figure jobs available in the market.
