How Much Income Do The Richest Americans Earn?

Wondering what you'd need to make to be among the top earners in the country? Data from the U.S. Census shows that the richest Americans make almost 10 times what the poorest do.

But just how much income are the wealthiest Americans seeing deposited into their bank accounts each year? Here's what you need to know.

This is how much the richest Americans are earning

According to the information from the Census, in 2022, households in the highest quintile had an income of $153,001 or above. The Census divided Americans into five groups, with these higher earners accounting for 20% of U.S. households. By contrast, households in the lowest quintile had incomes of just $30,000 or less.

While $153,001 or more is a lot of money, the numbers get even more impressive when you look at just the very top earners. In fact, the top 5% of households in the country earned $295,001 or more in 2022. That's at least $24,583.33 per month -- which means some of the wealthiest households bring home more cash every single month than many people do all year long.

The earners in this top 5% have a 23.5% share of aggregate income, so they're taking home close to a quarter of all of the money earned by everyone. And combined, all of the workers in the highest quintile -- including this top 5% -- receive 52.1% of all of the income going to households across America.

Do you have to be among the top earners to get rich?

Earning an annual income of $153,001 or more gives you a definite edge in becoming wealthy compared with your peers who earn less. And if you manage to get into that top 5%, you should have quite a bit of money to sock away in your savings account or deposit into investment accounts -- even if you are living pretty lavishly.

After all, the higher your income, the more money there is to go around. You won't need to spend nearly as large of a percentage of your income covering necessities if your earnings are among the top highest in the country compared with those in the bottom quintile.

But, the good news is, even if you are far outside of the top 5% or even the top 20%, you can still make the most of your personal income to build your net worth and get rich. That's because it's what you do with your money that counts.

If you want to make your earnings, aim to make these personal finance moves:

• Keep fixed expenses (like housing and car payments) to 50% of your income or less, so you have plenty left over. It's easier to keep these fixed expenses to a reasonable level, since you're making the decision just once to buy a cheaper house or car, compared with trying to cut discretionary spending over and over for years.
• Try to cap discretionary spending at 30% of your income. This is money for everything not considered a fixed expense, like entertainment and clothing. You want to be able to enjoy your money, so there's nothing wrong with spending on these items -- as long as you aren't spending above your means.
• Save 20% of your income. This should be going to retirement and shorter-term goals like buying a house, if you desire to do so.

If you take these steps, you stand a higher chance of becoming rich, even if your earnings aren't among the highest of any household in the country.