A recent UW–Madison report showed that Wisconsin residents must now earn over $460,000 annually to be among the top 1% of the state’s earners, according to WisBusiness. Prof. Steven Deller of the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics wrote the Division of Extension report, which showed the income necessary to be in the top 1% of earners has increased by almost 500% over the past 100 years or so, as more of the state’s total income is going to these highest earners.
The income to reach Wisconsin’s top 1% increased from $77,339 in 1917 to $462,926 in 2020 (adjusted for inflation). Across the U.S., the threshold increased from $110,892 to $541,277 — or less than 400% — over the same period.
The share of Wisconsin’s income going to its top earners rose from 4.2% in 1917 to 17.2% in 2020; across the nation, those numbers were 17.7% and 23.6%, respectively.
The report is available here.
