- Over 12% of American families, or over 16 million, are millionaires, per the WSJ.
- Median net worth for the 80th-90th income percentile saw net worth gains of 69% from 2019 to 2022.
- The upper-middle class is growing and becoming wealthier, particularly among those aged 55-74.
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It's not just the top 1% that's getting richer — over 16 million American families now have a net worth over $1 million.
That's over 12% of American families, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances of over 4,600 American households. This compares to just 9.8 million families who were millionaires in 2019, the WSJ found.
The analysis further noted how nearly eight million families have wealth over $2 million, compared to 4.7 million in 2019. This was particularly pronounced among families in the 55-74 age range.
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On the whole, median net worth — which measures household assets like houses and vehicles, minus debts like mortgages and student loans — rose an inflation-adjusted 37% between 2019 and 2022 up to around $193,000. Meanwhile, the average net worth rose to over $1 million, though this is skewed by extremely wealthy Americans.
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Net worth has increased for all income percentiles even amid rising interest rates, though while the top 10% jumped from $1.84 million to $2.65 million, the bottom 20% rose from $10,780 to $16,900.
One measure of wealth inequality narrowed, as average wealth only increased 23%, a smaller increase than the 37% jump for median wealth, suggesting that the distance between a typical household and super-wealthy outliers has slightly shrunk. However, racial wealth inequality still remains elevated.
Still, this all shows that the wealthy and upper-middle class are seeing large gains in wealth. Many of these families gained their wealth gradually, a large percentage of whom began from the time they graduated from college, making steady investments in assets such as retirement accounts or homes.
Many of these so-called "mini-millionaires" are earning between $150,000 and $250,000, the WSJ noted. Upwards of 40% of millionaire families aged 55 or above are headed by a college graduate.
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In fact, those in the 80th-90th percentile of the income distribution — meaning they make more than 80-90% of Americans — saw larger increases in wealth than those in the top 10%, according to the Fed. Median net worth for this subset of families rose 69% from 2019 to 2022 up to $747,000.
Slightly over 20% of families aged 55-74 have net worths above $1 million, while well over 10% of those aged 45-54 and 75 and over millionaires, according to the Fed. Meanwhile, just 1% of those under 35 are millionaires.
Over 96% of those in the top 10% and over 91% of those in the 80th to 90th income percentiles have stock holdings, per the new Fed results. The top 10% owns about 70% of the stock market. Meanwhile, nearly 90% of these demographics own a home and around 95% own a vehicle. Over 89% of those in the 80th to 90th percentile have a retirement account.
Even though inflation is still elevated at 3.7% — with larger price increases in groceries and homes — this wealth still goes a long way. Consumer spending is still strong, increasing 0.7% in September, according to the Commerce Department, which has driven a 4.9% GDP growth.
