What net worth do you need to be a part of Australia's 1%? (2024)

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What net worth do you need to be a part of Australia's 1%? ›

Previously, aspiring members of Australia's top 1% needed a net wealth of $US5. 5 million ($8.41 million). However, according to a 2024 wealth report by global real estate consultancy Knight Frank, this threshold has dipped to US$4.67 million ($7.18 million).

A Finder survey revealed the average Aussie thought they'd need an income of at least $307,000 a year to feel rich, coupled with plenty more in assets. Aussies said they'd feel affluent if they had savings of at least $450,000. The average national salary is about $98,000 a year, according to the ABS.

In the United States, this number stood at $5.8 million last year. Despite the 1% being considered ultra-rich, Knight Frank remarks that many of the world's 1% are not actually ultra-high-net-worth individuals with assets of over $30 million.

While the average Australian household has a net wealth of $1,022,200, households in the highest quintile have an average net wealth more than three times this ($3,236,800). Households in the lowest quintile, however, are worth just a fraction of the average (3% of the average wealth, or $35,200).

Nearly half of all wealth is held by the highest 10% of households, worth an average $5.2 million each. They hold 15 times' the wealth of the lowest 60% ($343,000 per household).

Knight Frank releases its annual Wealth Report this week, including figures on how much high net worth individuals need to be worth to be a part of the 1-per cent club in each country. In Australia, your net worth now needs to surpass $7 million to be considered a 1 percenter.

Membership into the top 1% club of wealthiest people in Australia has become slightly easier, with the threshold falling from a net individual wealth of US$5.5m in 2022 to US$4.673 million in 2023, according to the findings of Knight Frank's just-released The Wealth Report 2024.

The top 1% is a byword for wealth — and it's only gotten harder to become among the nation's top earners. Nationally, it now requires annual income of at least $787,712 to be among the top 1%, a 20% increase from last year, according to SmartAsset's analysis of IRS data.

But being counted among the highest net worth individuals can be much "easier" in some countries than it is in others. To belong to the 1% in America, your net worth would have to be about $5.8 million or higher, according to the new Wealth Report from real estate company Knight Frank.

What is a millionaire in Australia? ›

A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency.

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. These figures underscore the subjective nature of financial classifications across different thresholds of wealth.

However, one measure that many overlook is net worth. Your net worth represents how much wealth you have, measured by assets like a house, cars, 401(k), jewelry or cash in the bank, minus the debt obligations you have, or what you owe.

In 2023, Aussies needed a net worth of $5.5 million US (~$8.33 million AUD) to join the elite club, ranking us the third highest worldwide. This year, the cost to join Australia's wealthiest one per cent dropped to a net worth of $4.67 million US (~$7.07 million AUD).

A taxable income that was $131,501 or higher was within the top 10% of earners in Australia last year. About 5% of taxpayers had incomes above $180,000. Someone who earned more than $253,066 was in the top 1%.

The "top 1%" is a term that generally refers to the wealthiest people in a population based on income or net worth. The data from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) shows that annual wages for the top 1% in 2021 in the U.S. reached $819,324 on average.

In 2022, Australia's median wealth per adult was more than USD$247k (about AUD$356k at the time) - the second highest in the world after Belgium. However, this has actually fallen substantially from 2021, when Australia was the highest at USD$276,080 (about AUD $367k).

5 million ($8.41 million) to count themselves among Australia's 1 per cent, but the threshold has dropped to US$4.67 million ($7.18 million), according a 2024 wealth report by global real estate consultancy Knight Frank.

There aren't many of them, just 110,613 — 82,258 men and 28,355 women. Only 39,209 have taxable incomes of more than $500,000, and of these only 14,467 have taxable incomes of more than $1 million.