A new analysis shows how elite wealth cohorts vary widely across the 50 states
The price of admission to America’s top 1% now depends heavily on geography, with a new analysis of household wealth showing a gap of nearly $19 million between the most and least expensive states for elite net worth status.
Hawaii leads the country, requiring $21.5 million in net worth to enter the top 1%, followed by California at $19.75 million, Florida at $12.78 million, Colorado at $12.63 million, and Washington at $12.01 million.
At the other end, Mississippi has the lowest threshold, at $2.94 million. Kansas follows at $3.3 million, with West Virginia at $3.59 million, Louisiana at $3.62 million, and Missouri at $3.8 million.
The findings, based on Windfall’s April 2026 dataset covering more than 120 million US households, show that 14 states and Washington, DC, now require at least $10 million to reach the top 1%. That group includes New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Connecticut, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming, highlighting how coastal markets, tax-friendly destinations, technology hubs, and luxury real estate centers are lifting the wealth bar.
The dataset also shows why advisors cannot rely on national wealth benchmarks alone. New York has one of the highest 1% thresholds, at $11.55 million, but its median household net worth is just $159,000. Washington, D.C. is more extreme, with an $11.26 million 1% threshold and median household net worth of only $70,000.
By contrast, Vermont has the nation’s highest median household net worth at $703,000, while its 1% threshold is $9.83 million. New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Utah also show unusually strong household balance sheets, with median net worth above $600,000 in the latter two states and $616,000 in New Hampshire.
Millionaire concentration tells another story. California has the largest number of millionaire households at about 3.59 million, followed by Florida at 1.85 million and New York at 1.55 million. Texas has nearly 960,000 millionaire households but a comparatively modest top-1% threshold of $5.32 million, reflecting a large population and broad wealth pool rather than a uniformly high elite cutoff.
Hawaii stands apart on density. Windfall estimates about 170,000 millionaire households out of 480,000 total households, meaning more than one-third clear the $1 million mark. Vermont also has an unusually high millionaire share, with nearly 100,000 millionaire households out of 280,000 total households.
For advisors, the data points to a more localized prospecting challenge. A $5 million household may be elite in Mississippi or Kansas but below the top tier in California, Florida, Hawaii, or Washington. In several fast-growing migration markets, including Arizona, Idaho, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Utah, rising property values, business equity, and inflows from higher-cost states are reshaping what “high net worth” means.
Windfall said the analysis excludes some groups, including college students, ADU residents, transient residents, and the unhoused population. The company said the figures cover 99th-percentile net worth, median household net worth, millionaire-household counts, and total household counts by state.
