Pretty much. The bottom of the 1% is the elite of people who still actually work for a living, such as lawyers, dentists, and doctors.

This is why wealth is a better measure than income in terms of inequality.

It'd also help if people's first homes to own weren't counted, too. You'd see a real disparity.

And software engineers. :)

1% in terms of income, or in terms of wealth?

A low-to-mid 6 figures household income? Definitely possible. 8 million net worth? You're gonna have to be a rather.. senior software engineer.

I've heard numbers for the top 1% in wealth for Americans being more like $14M. At any rate, most doctors and lawyers I know get there by saving their 1% incomes, which software engineers can also do (although I think it's easier for a lawyer/doctor to get north of $300K than it is for a software engineer, excluding stock)

And speaking of stock... you can get lucky that way, although you still need to save / diversify!

Or picked the right startup to work for.