Neal Augenstein, wtop.com

WASHINGTON – It’s rarefied air up there. The richest of the rich. The so-called 1 Percent.

Here’s what to aim for if you hope to join those with household incomes in the top 1 percent of the region:

To be in the 1 percent in the District, you have to make $617,000 a year. That figure is down from $673,000 in 2007, before the recession.

In Maryland, the hurdle is a bit more attainable — $477,000. In Virginia, the elite standard is $427,000.

The 1-percent club is tougher to reach in the D.C. metro area than in most of the country, where the national threshold is $387,000.

The hardest place to be included in the 1 percent is Connecticut, where it takes $651,000 a year.

According to analysis of Census Bureau data by Sentier Research, household income in the D.C. region has risen while it’s fallen in the rest of the country.

Between 2007 and 2010, the District of Columbia had an increase in real median annual household income of 8.1 percent, from $55,505 to $60,000.

Thirty-eight states had decreases in real median household income over that period.

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