(NEXSTAR) – Wealth is in the eye of the beholder, a recent survey of 1,000 Americans found.
GOBankingRates asked 1,000 adults across different generations what salary they think is necessary to be considered “upper class” and found the answers differed between Gen Z, millennials and boomers.
Boomers, or those born after World War II and through 1964, were most likely to say a salary between $100,001 and $250,000 is considered “upper class.” Thirty-five percent of the boomers surveyed, who are all at or near retirement age, said surpassing six figures was enough. Twenty percent thought you needed far more than that, deeming only a salary above $500,000 an “upper class” wage.
Millennials’ answers weren’t too different from boomers’ opinions. About 37 percent of millennials surveyed (or people born between 1981 and 1996) said earning between $100,001 and $250,000 would make for an upper-class household.
Meanwhile, the youngest generation surveyed had more modest opinions on what constitutes wealth. More than a third of Generation Z, born between 1997 and 2012, many of whom are just entering the workforce, said earning between $75,001 and $200,000 qualified as “upper class.”
GOBankingRates did not provide any survey results from Generation X, the generation between boomers and millennials.
What actually qualifies as upper class?
The median household income in the U.S. is around $83,730, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. But how people define “upper class” differs. Some say you’d need to be making twice the median income, or around $167,460.
Even more elite are those who find themselves in the top 5 percent of earners. In the U.S., you’d need to be making about $336,000 to find yourself in the top 5 percent, according to Census data.
What if you want to be in the top 1 percent of earners? One analysis found you’d need to top $731,000 annually.