Knight Frank’s 2024 Wealth Report on The Elusive Top 1% and the Global Perspective on Wealth

The global surge in ultra-wealthy individuals since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has not made it easier to join the ranks of the top 1% of earners in the United States. According to Knight Frank’s 2024 Wealth Report, the wealthiest 1% of Americans are worth at least $5.8 million. Federal Reserve data from 2022, however, indicates that U.S. households needed a minimum net worth of $11.2 million to qualify for the top 1%, a slight decrease from 2019 when adjusted for inflation. Over the past decade, the threshold has risen by $1.6 million, and since the turn of the century, it has increased by approximately $4 million.

Currently, about 1.2 million U.S. households are included in this elite group, collectively holding 30% of the nation’s wealth. By contrast, the bar for joining the top 1% in other countries is often lower.

Knight Frank’s data, visualized by Spokeo, shows significant variation in the net worth required to be in the top 1% worldwide. In the United States, perceptions of wealth vary widely. A 2024 Charles Schwab survey revealed that Americans, on average, believe $2.5 million is required to be considered wealthy—a figure close to the $2.2 million needed to break into the top 10% of U.S. earners in 2022.

The wealthiest Americans, such as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg, are in a category far beyond the top 1%, occupying the uppermost brackets of billionaires (the top 0.1% and 0.01%). For comparison, the U.S. top 1% includes figures like Senator Elizabeth Warren, who had an estimated net worth of $8 million in 2018.

Despite the aspiration for wealth, surveys indicate that most Americans face significant barriers to achieving billionaire status. According to The Harris Poll, 60% of Americans express a desire to be billionaires, and over 40% believe they possess tools, like cryptocurrency investments, to attain this goal.

From 2019 to 2022, U.S. households experienced a 37% increase in median net worth, the fastest growth recorded in any three-year period by the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances. Median household net worth rose to $192,900—far from the $11.2 million needed to join the 1%.

Although the U.S. sets a high bar for wealth, it is not the highest globally. Knight Frank’s report identified three European nations with thresholds exceeding the U.S. for individual net wealth required to join the top 1%. Smaller wealth hubs, with fewer high-net-worth individuals, tend to have higher entry thresholds.

Conversely, countries like Japan and mainland China have lower requirements for joining the top 1%, with thresholds below those for the top 10% in the U.S. For example, $1.1 million in net wealth is sufficient to join the 1% in mainland China, where economic migration has contributed to a wealth exodus. Henley & Partners reported that over 15,000 millionaires are expected to leave China in 2024, relocating to destinations such as the U.S., Canada, Singapore, and Japan.

This trend is not unique to China, as wealth migration has become a global phenomenon. In 2024, an estimated 128,000 high-net-worth individuals are expected to relocate internationally in pursuit of favorable tax policies, investment opportunities, and security. This figure is projected to rise to 135,000 in 2025, reflecting an increasingly mobile and competitive global wealth landscape.

Have you read?
World’s Most Fashionable Countries.
World’s Best Countries For Business Expats.
Best Non-Native English Speaking Countries In The World.
Countries With The Largest Household Size.
World’s Best (And Worst) Countries For Older People To Live In.