The people who pay the most taxes in the United States are the top income earners, particularly the top 1%, 5%, and 10% of taxpayers.
- The top 1% of earners pay about 40-46% of all federal income taxes, with an average tax rate around 26% and average income taxes paid exceeding $560,000 to $650,000 per filer
- The top 5% pay roughly 61-66% of all federal income taxes, with average tax rates around 23% and average taxes paid in the range of $169,000 to $187,000 per filer
- The top 10% pay about 72-76% of federal income taxes, with average tax rates near 21% and average taxes paid around $100,000
- Collectively, the top 50% of earners pay about 97% of all federal income taxes, while the bottom 50% pay only about 2-3%
These figures reflect the progressive nature of the U.S. federal income tax system, where higher earners pay a disproportionately large share of income taxes. The top 10% also pay the highest average tax rates, with the highest 0.1% paying average rates over 33%
. In summary, the highest earners—especially the top 1% and 5%—pay the most in federal income taxes both in absolute dollars and as a share of total tax revenue
