Households earning more than $100,000

The percentage of households earning over $100,000 annually has increased since the 1980s. But, short-term crises tilted this metric in certain years. For instance, strong economic growth between 2005 and 2007 caused a significant rise in high-earning households, particularly because this economic growth was skewed towards top earners. However, the recession in 2008 caused the number of high-earning households to plunge. Moreover, the collapse of the banking industry caused many highly paid US citizens to lose their jobs. In addition, lesser-paying job losses in all industries caused many formerly dual-income households to slip below the $100,000 threshold. The resulting rise in unemployment caused this driver to fall every year between 2008 and 2011.

More recently, real economic growth and expanding demand for highly skilled workers has caused this trend to reverse. Nonetheless, the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic resulted in a 1.1 percentage point decline in 2020 due to business closures, a weakened labor market and other negative impacts on businesses. The spread of the disease caused millions to file for unemployment, including high earning individuals from companies that did not survive the decline. Also, several companies required employees to take a pay cut, placing some individuals under the $100,000 threshold. Despite the decline in 2020, the vaccine rollout and easing of pandemic-related restrictions benefited the economy, resulting in a recovering unemployment rate and an increase in households earning more than $100,000 in 2021. Employers seeking to upskill their workforce will also play a role in escalating incomes over the period.