Just looked at some income data from a few years back and it's wild how much being 'rich' really depends on where you live. Like, to crack the top 20% in West Virginia you need around 103k, but jump to New Jersey and suddenly you're looking at 180k just to hit that same bracket. That's almost double for the same percentile ranking.

The regional gaps are insane when you dig deeper. The whole Northeast and West Coast basically requires six figures minimum to feel actually wealthy. New York top 5% earners are pulling in over 570k on average, while down South you might see that same top tier at 350-400k. Massachusetts, Connecticut, California - all pushing 500k+ for that elite income bracket.

What's interesting is how this maps to cost of living. High-income states like New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Maryland all have sky-high housing and taxes eating into that top 10% income threshold. Meanwhile states in the South and Midwest need way less to reach the same wealth percentile, but that's partly because everything costs less there too.

So 'rich' is totally relative. You could be making 180k and feel wealthy in Kentucky, but struggle in Boston with the same paycheck. The data's from 2023 so it's a bit dated, but the pattern holds - geography is everything when it comes to whether you actually feel financially comfortable.