Are You in the Top 1 Percent?

I saw progressives on TV this week railing against "the 1%."  What does that mean?  The top 1% percentile for income is $434,454.80.  There are entire neighborhoods in Plano that fit into that category, but the median household income in Plano is $79,234. I would say many of the people of Plano fall into the 50 to 99th percentiles of income.  Here is a chart of income distribution.  Click on it to see it enlarged.

The graph is United States Household Income Brackets and Percentiles in 2018, Feb. 16, 2018, from the Don’t Quit Your Day Job (DQYDB) blog.  It is a great web page, I recommend looking it over.

How can we know there are people with this income in Plano?  The recommended price for a house is 2 to 2.5 times your gross yearly income.    2 times and 2.5 times the 1% cutoff income is
$434,454 * 2.0 =  $ 868,908
$434,454 * 2.5 = $1,086,135
The most expensive house in Plano at this time is $6,399,000.  The lower end of the top 10 homes in Plano is $2,375,000.  This indicates there are people in Plano with incomes exceeding the cutoff for the 1%.

Who are the 1%?  They are our neighbors.  There is a wide distribution of financial success in Plano.  I see no reason to resent some of our neighbors being more financially successful.  I find contemporary politics disturbingly divisive.  I think the children of Plano should get the education that enables them to pursue a spot in the top 1% of  income if that is what they desire.  There is nothing wrong with working hard and succeeding.

Robert