Should my wife and I file married-filing-separately if she only had about $1000 income this year and I brought in everything else?

no... in virtually all situations, filing jointly is the better option...

You MUST file married - filing jointly....if you don't, you won't be able to claim her as a dependent.

File jointly is this a competition file jointly

joiintly is to your advantage

Yes. If you file married filing separately, then the government will get to keep more of the money that you are entitled to have, and you'll have less, and they need the money more than you. If you file married jointly, then you'll have more money that you don't need, but they'll have less of the money that they do need.

Yes it will matter and no you shouldn't file separately. Your tax bill will be much less if you file jointly. You will waste her personal exemption and most of her standard deduction if you file separately. File jointly.

If she made only $1000 she doesn't have to file at all. The lower limit is somewhere about $10300 if she were to file separately. Filing jointly, her income will probably be added to yours, but the tax advantages of filing married outweigh the negative that $1000 will add to your household income.

file joint

NO it will cost you more in tax - file a joint return

If her income were that low, you should file jointly.