What do the 1 percenters make

In , the top 0. Income disparity is the most dramatic when you look at how the distribution of wages has changed since If you are not among the top earners and would like to see where you fit in, below are the full details from the EPI study. To be a top earner in the U. The wealthiest have grown richer much faster than the rest of the population since Income disparity stands out in particular among the highest and lowest earners in regards to how the distribution of wages has changed since then.

Economic Policy Institute. Wealth Management. Behavioral Economics. Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for Investopedia. At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page. These choices will be signaled globally to our partners and will not affect browsing data. We and our partners process data to: Actively scan device characteristics for identification. I Accept Show Purposes. Your Money. Personal Finance. More than 10 percent were immigrants to the US.

Piketty and Saez have theorized that investments grow faster than the economy, giving entrenched dynasties insuperable advantages. But Kaplan and Rauh argue that the super-rich are predominantly creating rather than inheriting wealth. Kaplan also says that wealth in this group has been fueled by a marriage of in-demand skills, globalization, and technology—the combination of which are allowing businesses to scale up as never before.

Skills, say many economists, are critical to the modern economy. As the US economy grows, jobs are going unfilled as companies scramble to find skilled people to hire. The situation has similarly raised the amount of profits skilled company owners can make, and technology and globalization are further magnifying the value of in-demand skills. If this is true, the 0.

In the Information Age, the change has been particularly pronounced. In , the World Bank estimated that roughly 35 percent of the world lived in extreme poverty. And it has been good for wealthy residents of developed countries. And hedge-fund managers make multiples more than top athletes and entertainers.

Now they have the systems and the information to do that. That technological change is here and is not going away. The question of what, if anything, should be done in response to the spectacular rise of the 0.

When policy makers want to address the concentration of income and wealth, the first place some have looked is the top marginal tax rate, which slid in the US and other developed countries after the Reagan and Thatcher revolutions.

Raising the top marginal rate could send people and their money scurrying for tax havens, he says, pointing to France as an example. Raising the top tax rates in the US could also send people to take advantage of more favorable tax rules within the code itself. And closing perceived loopholes can be controversial. The marginal rate is intended to tax individuals on their earnings, and it rises with income.

But a lot of business income is being taxed at that marginal rate rather than a corporate rate. Because the top US marginal personal tax rate was lower than the corporate rate for some time, business owners had an incentive to change their form of corporate organization from the traditional C corporation, which has profits taxed at the higher, corporate rate, to a partnership, limited liability corporation, or S corporation, taxed at the lower, individual rate.

Meanwhile, the bottom quarter of all earners account for just 3. Across populations, incomes tend to rise with educational attainment, and in New Hampshire, The state's high threshold is driven up by New York City, where many of the world's wealthiest have homes and there is a concentration of high paying jobs.

Meanwhile, the bottom quarter of earners in the state account for just 2. North Dakota has a more even distribution of income compared to other states.

Cumulatively, one-percenters in Oklahoma account for Rhode Island one-percenters account for There is a steep dropoff in income between the state's hyper-wealthy and those who are "just" very wealthy. Cumulatively, the state's one-percenters earn While Vermont is one of the most educated states — Just 1, returns came from those taxpayers.

See chart below; click to enlarge. The top 50 percent accounted for Meanwhile, the top 1 percent accounted for 39 percent of total income tax paid, while the top 0. But adjusted gross income is limited in its ability to determine economy-wide trends, Greenberg cautioned.