A more accurate number would be between 5 and 12 percent. The post understates the number of millionaires among the public. But data from the Center for Responsive Politics showed that about 48 percent were worth at least $1 million. The number of millionaires in Congress is hard to pinpoint precisely, because they disclose their finances in ranges. There were about 104 million tax returns filed, so that means less than 1 percent were for people who earned at least $1 million.Ī Facebook post said 50 percent of the members of Congress are millionaires compared with only 1 percent of the American public as a whole. The House and Senate members don’t earn $1 million in their salary, but some earn investment income.įor the population as a whole, IRS data for 2017 showed about 500,000 tax returns had incomes of at least $1 million. Net worth includes a person’s cash, home value, stocks, bonds and other property minus any debts owed.īut if we used income as the benchmark, the calculation for Congress would be different. It’s possible that, when the Facebook post said that 1 percent of people are millionaires, it was referring to annual income, which is different than net worth. The market research firm quantifies millionaire households by net worth, not including primary residence. That works out to about 5 percent of the adult population. Spectrem Group found that in 2018, there were 11.8 million American households with a net worth of at least $1 million. We found some other analyses about how many Americans are millionaires, but none were the 1 percent cited in the Facebook post.Ĭredit Suisse’s Global Wealth Report showed that there are approximately 18.6 million Americans with a net worth in excess of $1 million, which works out to about 8 percent of the adult population. A family economic unit consists of the heads of the families and dependents who live with them. It’s clear that the wealth of Congress is disproportionate to the general public, but by how much?Īccording to the Survey of Consumer Finances from the Federal Reserve Board, 12 percent of family economic units had $1 million or more of net wealth (all assets minus all debts), said Janet Holtzblatt, a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. Sorting out the number of Americans who are millionaires
That method results in about 39 percent of the members being millionaires. By that measurement, there are 207 who are worth at least $1 million. Roll Call analyzed 530 members by their by their minimum net worths.
who had a net wealth of about $324 million and made much of his wealth from a car alarm company. If we use the average net worth category for the House and the Senate, it showed about 48 percent have worths of at least $1 million. The center’s data for 2016 shows the members’ financial data in three categories: minimum net worth, average and maximum net worth. The intent of the disclosures is to highlight potential conflicts of interest, not give a complete accounting of a member’s personal valuation, according to the center. Those disclosure forms do not require exact values, so the reports show the value of assets and liabilities within a range. The Center for Responsive Politics compiles financial disclosures of members of Congress.