This is How Much You Have to Earn to be Considered ‘Rich’ in NJ

We all dream of being rich, but what does that mean? How much money would you have to have to consider yourself rich?

As 24/7 Wall St. points out, there is no strict definition of what makes someone rich, but they tried to quantify it for each state based on some benchmarks.

Reviewing data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2021 American Community Survey on the minimum household income needed to be among the top 20% of earners, 24/7 Wall St. identified the income it takes to be considered rich in every state.

Nationally, to be in the top 20% of earners you’d have to have $140,307 in household income. Needless to say, you have to make more in New Jersey due to the higher cost of living, but how much more?

Read on.

The median household income in New Jersey is $89,296, which is the third highest among all the states. To be in the top 20% of earners, you need to make $181,484 annually, which is the second highest in the US.

To be in the top 5%, you need to make at least $250,000 and up, which is tied for the highest threshold in the country. Surprisingly, the income controlled by the top 5% is just 22.9%, which is the 16th highest.

In case you’re wondering, according to this report, the cost of living in New Jersey is 11.2% higher than the national average.

The methodology:

To identify the income it takes to be considered rich in every state, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed income data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2021 American Community Survey. States are ranked by the minimum household income needed to be in the top 20% of earners. We also considered the minimum household income needed to be in the top 5% of earners.

Data on median household income and the share of income earned by households in the fifth quintile of earnings and in the top 5% of earnings are also from the ACS. Data on cost of living by state, or regional price parity, is from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and is current as of 2020