WCCO EYE4 LOGO WCCO Radio

Latest News

Good Question: If You’re Not Part Of The 1%, What Percent Are You?

View Comments
(credit: CBS)

Reporting Jason DeRusha

Today's Most Popular Video
AAA To Expand Roadside Service To Bicycles Inside Metro Transit's Lost & Found Hall Of Fame Study: Poverty Rate In Twin Cities' Suburbs Amongst Highest In US Getting A Close-Up Look At Honey Bees Stillwater High School Student Sings About Life With Cancer

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Money and class are a huge part of the national discourse right now. Who is the 20 percent, the 10 percent, the top 1 percent? Where does your family compare to the rest of taxpayers in the United States?

“I would guess I’m probably in the top 20 percent,” said one woman.

Everyone wants to be in touch with the middle class, but there’s not a lot of love for the super-rich.

“I would love to think of myself that way,” said one man in downtown Minneapolis, “I’d love to be in the top one percent!”

But when we looked at the bottom line at the end of your tax return, rich might not be as rich as you thought.

The IRS organizes taxpayers by percentile according to their adjusted gross income. That’s the income after certain deductions (like unreimbursed business expenses, medical expenses, alimony and deductible retirement plan contributions), but before the standard or itemized deductions. Bottom line, AGI is generally lower than simply your salary.

According to the latest IRS data from 2009, filers with an adjusted gross income making more than $112,124 are in the top 10 percent.

“$100,000 is like, might as well be a million, it’s the same abstract money I will never make in a year,” said one man.

The top 5 percent of filers have adjusted gross incomes of at least $154,643.

And what about the 1.4 million tax filers in the top 1 percent?

The IRS puts the top 1 percent of filers at an adjusted gross income of $343,927.

“I’m surprised, would have thought it was a lot more,” said another woman on Nicollet Mall.

If your family has an adjusted gross income of $66,193, you’re in the top 25 percent. And if it’s $32,396 – you’re in the top 50 percent!

If you want to look at your salary, you have to look at the 2010 results from the American Community Survey run by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The top 25 percent make more than $90,000 a year. The top 10 percent make more than $140,000. The top 5 percent make more than $180,000, according to the Census Bureau.

View Comments
blog comments powered by Disqus
Listen Live!

Mobile Weather Watcher

Follow CBS Minnesota

Like us on foursquare
wccoradio podcastbanner3 WCCO Radio

Meet WCCO-TV’s Anchors

Amelia Santaniello Frank Vascellaro Chris Shaffer Mark Rosen

TV Schedule

Full Program Grid
7:00 PM NCIS: Los Angeles
8:00 PM NCIS
9:00 PM NCIS
10:00 PM WCCO 4 News at Ten
10:35 PM Late Show with David Letterman
11:37 PM The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson