I was doing some research on net worth percentiles and found this related post on the Wall Street Journal blogs. I thought the term Rich-O-Meter was somewhat humorous because depending on which end of the scale you fall, maybe it is better to name it the Poor-O-Meter!
WHERE DO YOU RANK IN WEALTH
(If you have a household net worth of X … you rank in the Y percentile):
$50,000 … 60th percentile
$93,000 … 50th percentile
$100,000 … 48th percentile
$200,000 … 34th percentile
$500,000 … 18th percentile
$750,000 … 12th percentile
$827,000 … 10th percentile
$1 million … 8th percentile
$1.4 million … 5th percentile
$6 million … 1st percentile
This WSJ post discusses numbers from 2004, but you get the idea. To be in the top 10 percent of wealthy in this country (you have more money than 9 out of 10 people), in 2004 you would need a Net Worth of $827,000.
To be in the top 50 percent of wealthy in this country (half have more than you, half have less), you would need a Net Worth of $93,000.
For the latest Net Worth Percentile numbers, see the charts on this page:
New data will be published in 2011 after the 2010 Census numbers are compiled, analyzed, and released.
Speaking of poor vs. rich, have you researched the difference between median and average net worth statistics? Check out my detailed analysis on this page:
Where do YOU fall on the Rich-O-Meter ?