According to this[1] New York Times graphic the following household incomes place you in these percentiles. Top 1%: $383,000 Top 5%: $188,000 Top 10%: $140,000

According to this[1] New York Times graphic the following household incomes place you in these percentiles. Top 1%: $383,000 Top 5%: $188,000 Top 10%: $140,000 Top 25%: $89,125 Top 50%: $50,742 Top 75%: $25,411 Top 90%: $12,154 Give that those incomes are so low[2] it isn't surprising that the top percentiles have so many people that have at least one year in them. As an example, My mother, who reached $60k for 2 years at the end of her 45 year career had to take a 401(k) withdrawal[3], which is counted as income, which boosted her, barely, into the top 20 percent, for one year. It's pretty easy to see how people can be boosted into higher brackets for short periods of time. Picketty is talking about wealth, not income, so it's hard to see how you could build wealth consistently with short term boosts. Remember, 54% of people experienced poverty or near poverty as well...potentially wiping out any wealth they had accrued. 1: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/01/15/business/one-percent-map.html?ref=economy&_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/01/15/business/one-p... 2: I think we see incomes like $188k as low or middle class when they are anything but. Median household income is only ~$50k. 3: Please try to avoid doing this!