Here Is The Income Level At Which Money Won't Make You Any Happier In Each State (2024)

FAQs

At what income level does happiness not increase? ›

Kahneman and Deaton found that happiness increased with income, but only to a point — there was no further progress beyond about $75,000 ($108,000 in today's dollars).

One study said happiness peaked at $75,000 in income.

The answer is a bit more than the often cited $75,000 per year. In a 2023 paper published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) journal, key findings suggest that earnings up to $500,000 boost and buy overall happiness.

We found that the ideal income point is $95,000 for life evaluation and $60,000 to $75,000 for emotional well-being. Again, this amount is for individuals and would likely be higher for families.” Emotional well-being, or feelings, is about one's day-to-day emotions, such as feeling happy, excited, or sad and angry.

For example, making more money can make us do things that don't make us happy—such as working more and spending less time with friends and family (Aaker et al., 2011). Further, more money brings with it more choices, which doesn't necessarily bring happiness.

If you make $75,000 a year, you're earning more than half of all workers in the U.S. And in fact, many people would probably consider the salary as good pay. After all, a $75,000 salary works out to around $6,250 per month, $1,442.31 per week, or $36.06 an hour.

On average, an individual needs $96,500 for sustainable comfort in a major U.S. city. This includes being able to pay off debt and invest for the future.

In San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Oakland, all in California, a $100,000 salary is effectively halved, in terms of what it can afford. Here are the top 10 cities where $100,000 goes the furthest, and where a six-figure salary is worth the least.

In California, the middle class income range for 2022 was $61,270 to $183,810. Compare that to the average in 2012, which was $40,933 to $122,800. That's a 10-year change of 49.68%. Those figures pushed California to #4 on the list ranking U.S. states where the middle class income has increased.

How much money is enough to be rich? ›

For example, individuals with $1 million in liquid assets are generally classified as having a high net worth. To be considered very high net worth, one might need assets ranging from $5 million to $10 million, while an ultra-high net worth status could require $30 million or more.

A salary of $94,696, on average, would make Americans happy, according to a new survey of over 1,200 people from Moneyzine.com. Earning a salary smaller than six figures isn't enough for everyone, though, especially in states with higher costs of living.

According to IRS standards, a monthly income of approximately $45,000 qualifies someone as wealthy. However, if you're aiming for the top 1% as measured by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), you'd need to earn about $68,277 monthly.

“Good income is relative to the average household income in America, which is $78,000 right now.” Real median household income in the U.S. was $78,250 in 2019 and fell to $74,580 in 2022, according to the Census Bureau. "You're not a bad person.

What do studies say about money and happiness? Purdue University found the ideal average income for people worldwide is $95,000 and $105,000 in the U.S. Beyond that, satisfaction with life deteriorates, it said.

Specifically, for the least happy group, happiness rises with income until $100,000, then shows no further increase as income grows. For those in the middle range of emotional well-being, happiness increases linearly with income, and for the happiest group the association actually accelerates above $100,000.

Based on that figure, an annual income of $500,000 or more would make you rich. The Economic Policy Institute uses a different baseline to determine who constitutes the top 1% and the top 5%. For 2021, you're in the top 1% if you earn $819,324 or more each year. The top 5% of income earners make $335,891 per year.

Overall, Galbraith's study suggests that people with very low incomes achieve a level of life satisfaction that is just as high, and in some cases higher, than that found in wealthy nations. The authors also note that their findings are good news for planetary sustainability.

The Easterlin Paradox states that at a point in time happiness varies directly with income, both among and within nations, but over time the long-term growth rates of happiness and income are not significantly related. The principal reason for the contradiction is social comparison.