Analyzes twenty data points to determine which states are most hospitable and attractive to higher earning individuals and affluent families.
New York, N.Y. – State income taxes tend to be a predominant determining factor when high-earners are choosing a place to live. However, RewardExpert – a free service that helps users take full advantage of credit card and travel rewards – today released a ranking of The Best States for High-Earners and Affluent Families that takes a more holistic look at what makes a given location hospitable to high-income Americans.
The ranking accounts for twenty data metrics regarding real estate prices and trends, school quality, public safety, local sales taxes, and overall quality of life in addition to state income tax brackets, rates, deductions, and exemptions.
“When most people hear the term ‘affluent,’ they may think of individuals or families that fall into the ‘one percent,’ says RewardExpert co-founder Vlad Tyschuk. “However, in order to ensure that this study is relevant and useful to as large a slice of the demographic pie as possible, we have purposely defined ‘high-earners’ and ‘affluent families’ to exclude incomes in and above the top one percent. While the balance of our analysis remains valid and applicable to top earners, we assumed individual or household incomes within the top 2 to 25 percent. This roughly covers individuals earning $125,000-$250,000 per year, and families with household incomes ranging from $200,000 to $500,000.”
The top three states for high-earners are:
- Colorado – The Centennial State offers high property values with rapid and steady real estate appreciation. Colorado has the highest value increase of any state over the past decade. Property values went up 8.26 percent in the past year, 5.03 percent in the past ten years.
- Nevada – Nevada residents enjoy no state income taxes along with no corporate income taxes. To help support schools, state and local government services spend resident money in-state whenever possible: Nevada’s state and local governments rely heavily on sales tax revenue to keep other taxes low or non-existent. That said, Nevada has some of the nation’s top schools, ranking 13th country-wide.
- Michigan – The Great Lakes State offers great tax savings. In Michigan there are no local sales taxes. Plus, the state has a flat, low state income tax amounting to 4.25 percent of Federal Adjusted Gross Income. Additionally, real estate values are appreciating; they have gone up 8.59 percent compared to this time last year, with current average home sales prices of $142,000.
“The states in this ranking enable high-earners to provide themselves their families with a safe place to live and many opportunities to thrive,” says Tyschuk.
To determine the ranking, RewardExpert analyzed data from federal, state, and local governmental sources, among others, to make a comprehensive assessment of the favorability of each state for high-earning individuals and affluent families.
For further information and to view the full report, visit the RewardExpert website.
About RewardExpert
RewardExpert helps users navigate the world of frequent flyer programs and credit card rewards. The free web service provides smart tools and features that enable users to make more rewarding decisions. Through personal finance and travel insights, users are empowered to turn their spending into earning. Find out how to quickly gain rewards while spending less to see more of the world. To get started, visit www.rewardexpert.com.
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