10 States With the Largest Increases in Million-Dollar Earners

This story originally appeared on SmartAsset.com.

The number of Americans pulling in seven figures a year is on the rise. IRS data shows that fewer than 3 in 1,000 taxpayers earned over $1 million in 2018, up from fewer than 2 in 1,000 back in 2013. Those who have the good fortune of clearing the $1 million mark in annual income, or those looking to be strategic about reaching this threshold, may find it useful to consult a professional financial adviser. SmartAsset wanted to find out where millionaires are growing the fastest, so we identified the states with the largest increases in million-dollar earners.

To do this, we compared the number of tax returns filed by people earning at least $1 million in 2013 with the total in 2018. For details on our data sources and how we put all the information together to create our final rankings, check out the Data and Methodology section below.

This is the second time SmartAsset has crunched data on million-dollar earners. Here’s the link to the first study.

1. Washington

Washington state claims first place, with a 120.76% increase of million-dollar earners in five years. In 2013, the state had 7,080 tax returns filed by people making at least $1 million. In 2018, that number more than doubled to 15,630.

2. Utah

Utah only had 2,010 million-dollar tax returns in 2013 (out of a total of about 1.2 million total tax returns filed). But by 2018, that number grew to 3,960 (out of a total of about 1.4 million total tax returns filed), an increase of 97.01%.

3. Oregon

The number of Oregonian millionaires grew 95.08% in just five years. In 2013, there were only 2,440 tax returns filed by million-dollar earners. But in 2018, they nearly doubled to 4,760.

4. Idaho

The number of tax returns filed by millionaires in Idaho grew 88.64% in just five years, nearly doubling from 880 in 2013 to 1,660 in 2018.

5. Arizona

The number of million-dollar earners in Arizona grew 87.38% in five years. In 2013, there were 4,280, and by 2018, the total of millionaire tax filers in the state grew to 8,020.

6. Colorado

Colorado’s million-dollar earners grew by 87.26% in five years. In 2013, the state had 5,650 Coloradan millionaire tax filers. And by 2018, that number jumped to 10,580.

7. North Carolina

North Carolina is the first of two non-Western states in the top 10 of this study, growing 85.24% in million-dollar earners from 2013 to 2018. There were 6,030 North Carolinian million-dollar tax filers in 2013. That group grew to 11,170 in 2018.

8. South Carolina

South Carolina is the second of two non-Western states in our top 10. In 2018, there were 4,750 South Carolinian million-dollar tax returns filed. This was an 84.82% increase from the 2,570 filed in 2013.

9. Hawaii

Hawaii had 690 million-dollar tax returns filed in 2013. That number nearly doubled to 1,260 in 2018. Those are the lowest totals in our top 10. Nevertheless, millionaire tax filers in the state grew 82.61% over those five years.

10. Nevada

Nevada rounds out the top 10 with 2,910 million-dollar earners in 2013, which grew to 5,220 in 2018. This group grew 79.38% in just five years. Nevada is also one of the U.S. states with the largest tax bills, so high-earning Nevada taxpayers may wish to take a look at our lists of the top financial advisers in Las Vegas or Reno for further guidance.

Data and Methodology

To find the states with the biggest increase in million-dollar earners, we used IRS data to compare the number of tax returns filed in 2013 and 2018 (for all filing statuses) indicating earned income of at least $1 million. We then found the percentage increase over the course of those five years and ranked the states from the largest increase to the smallest.