This is how much money you need to make in SC to be a top 1% earner, new study says

Getting rich is a common goal for many people, but how much money does someone need to earn in a year to be considered a top earner? It significantly depends on where you live.

Read more This strange little carnivorous plant needs more than an SC law to protect it, national group says

Smart Asset, a personal finance company, set out to find the states that require the highest incomes to reach the top 1%. They used the most recent IRS tax return data and personal income growth data to estimate the thresholds needed to enter the top 1%, 5% and 10% by state in 2026.

In South Carolina, you still need to earn a pretty penny to be considered a top earner and earn significantly more than the minimum wage, but the bar is much lower than in many other states across the country.

Here’s the annual income South Carolinians need to have to be deemed extremely wealthy:

Annual income to be a top earner in SC

SC ranks 31st in the country based on the income a person needs to make to reach the top 1% in 2026. That means 30 states have higher income thresholds to be a top earner.

Read more Wildfire continues to burn in Yosemite. Are park officials downplaying its size?

• To be in the top 10% of earners, a person in SC needs to make $189,868
• To be in the top 5% of earners, a person in SC needs to make $270,035
• To be in the top 1% of earners, a person in SC needs to make $649,117

There are an estimated 23,203 people in SC who are top 1% earners.

Top 10 states with the highest income thresholds

Technically, the U.S. territory with the highest income threshold to reach the top 1% is the District of Columbia, where residents need a gross income of $1,156,664 to be among the area’s wealthiest individuals.

The following 10 states have the highest income thresholds to become top 1% earners:

1. Connecticut: $1,147,898
2. Massachusetts: $1,006,921
3. California: $987,325
4. New Jersey: $969,976
5. New York: $959,562
6. Florida: $956,449
7. Washington: $903,303
8. Colorado: $828,772
9. Wyoming: $819,014
10. Texas: $817,158

These are the bottom 10 states:

1. West Virginia: $445,892
2. Mississippi: $471,504
3. New Mexico: $492,703
4. Kentucky: $540,116
5. Arkansas: $558,009
6. Indiana: $561,871
7. Alabama: $574,000
8. Iowa: $578,240
9. Oklahoma: $591,698
10. Ohio: $591,894

Methodology

SmartAsset used every state’s IRS tax return data for 2022, the most recent year available, and adjusted it using state-level personal income growth from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) to estimate the income thresholds needed to rank among the top 1%, 5% and 10% of earners in each state in 2026.

Read more Chaotic firing of SC election official violated open meeting law, ACLU suit alleges