You're Likely In The Top 1% If You Spend This Amount On Travel

How many vacations do you take in a year? And how much do you spend on those trips? If you answered six or more trips and spend at least $12,400 each time, that could be a sign you've made it into the top 1% of U.S. households. This is according to a 2026 Future of Luxury Travel report by Resonance Consultancy and research firm Léger, which tracked affluent American travelers from 2007 to 2025. The report found that the top 1% of earners take an average of six leisure trips per year and spend $12,400 per trip. Those in the top 10% take an average of 4.3 trips annually, spending $7,900 per trip. Meanwhile, American travelers overall average 2.8 trips per year and spend about $3,700 per trip.

Given the rising costs of travel and the limited vacation days many Americans get, it's not surprising that the wealthiest households take significantly more trips than everyone else. A family vacation today can easily cost $8,000 or more, depending on your family size, destination, and activities — a huge inflationary jump from what family vacations cost in the '90s. Even what affluent travelers are spending has drastically jumped within just the past couple of years. Since 2022, average spending per trip has increased by roughly 55% for the top 10% of earners and 48% for the top 1%.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, median household income was $87,460 in 2025, while median income after taxes and credits was $76,060. A general rule of thumb is to spend less than 10% of your net income on vacations. Using the Census Bureau's median post-tax household income of $76,060, that guideline would leave a vacation budget of up to $7,606 per year. Your own budget may need to be smaller if you're paying down debt or working toward other financial goals. Meanwhile, the Resonance survey puts the top 10% of households at an annual income over $240,000, and the top 1% at over $600,000. Those higher incomes can provide considerably more room for vacation spending, although how much a household can comfortably afford still depends on its taxes, expenses, and other financial obligations.

Even if you're not among the top 1% or 10%, it can be tempting to splurge on a trip you really want to take. McKinsey identifies a growing group of luxury travelers with net worths between $100,000 and $1 million, sometimes called "aspiring affluents." That includes travelers who fall outside the wealth brackets used by Resonance, which start at $1.5 million for the top 10% and $13 million for the top 1%. These aspiring affluents are eager to spend a larger percentage of their money on travel, possibly by foregoing other expenses like homeownership. If this is you, just beware of how lifestyle creep can impact your wealth over time.