BUFFALO, N.Y. — The definition of "financially elite" varies from community to community. That becomes apparent after a quick look at an obscure statistic known as a "5 percent threshold," the annual income that would put you among the top 5 percent of all earners in a given place.
The threshold is lowest, as you would expect, in poor areas. It is $93,688, for example, in Niagara Falls' 14303 ZIP code. Anything above that figure qualifies as an elite income for that neighborhood.
Eight Western New York ZIPs, on the other hand, have 5 percent thresholds that are listed as ">$250,000." The U.S. Census Bureau, as a matter of policy, doesn't specify thresholds larger than a quarter of a million dollars. Check out Buffalo Business First's website to see the 5 percent thresholds for all 79 Western New York ZIP codes with populations greater than 5,000.
