In 2010, Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton published a landmark analysis of 450,000 Gallup poll responses examining the relationship between income and two distinct types of well-being.

Two Types of Well-Being

• Emotional well-being: How you actually feel day-to-day — joy, stress, sadness, affection, frequency of laughter
• Life evaluation: How you judge your life when you think about it — a reflective, cognitive assessment

The Finding That Entered Popular Culture

Emotional well-being improved with income up to approximately $75,000/year (2010 dollars). Beyond that, additional income showed no meaningful relationship with day-to-day emotional experience.

Life Evaluation

Life evaluation continued to rise with income beyond $75,000 — suggesting that higher income makes people think better about their lives even when it no longer improves how they feel.

The 2021 Update

Matthew Killingsworth's 2021 study found emotional well-being continued rising beyond $75,000. A 2023 joint analysis by Kahneman and Killingsworth found the plateau exists mainly for people who are unhappy at baseline — for those already happy, income continued to improve experience at all levels.

Reference:

Wikipedia: Daniel Kahneman

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Kahneman