The combined wealth of America’s richest 1% reached a record $52 trillion this spring—enough to buy every home in the country with a few trillion left over.
According to the latest data from the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors, the net worth of the top 1% of Americans increased by more than $4 trillion in the second quarter of 2025 compared with a year earlier. By the Fed’s definition, these ultra-wealthy individuals hold at least $11.2 million each. Together, they now control roughly 31% of the nation’s total household wealth—enough to theoretically purchase the entire U.S. housing stock, valued at $49.3 trillion in the second quarter.
The most recent figures, released in September, show that this small elite holds nearly as much wealth as the bottom 90% of U.S. households combined, which totaled $54 trillion between April and June 2025.
Meanwhile, the wealth of the top 10%—households with more than $2 million in net worth—soared to $113 trillion, up from $108 trillion in the first quarter and $105 trillion in the second quarter of 2024. In other words, the richest 10% now control more than twice the wealth of the remaining 90% of Americans. Over the past decade, the top 10% saw their combined net worth grow 91%, adding more than $53 trillion.
What’s Driving the Wealth Surge
Federal Reserve data shows that rising corporate equity and mutual fund values are driving much of this growth. Between April and June, the S&P 500 climbed 10.5%, while the Nasdaq rose 17.5%, according to Reuters. The wealthiest Americans now hold more than 87% of corporate equities and mutual fund shares, worth $44 trillion.
Real estate represents a smaller portion of their wealth, about 20%, totaling nearly $22 trillion. In contrast, most of the assets of the bottom 90% are tied to real estate, which totals $27 trillion, while stocks held by this group amount to just over $6 trillion.
“Overall wealth—and especially financial wealth—is concentrated at the top,” says Jake Krimmel, senior economist at Realtor.com®. “While the top 1% owns more real estate than the bottom 50%, housing is far more important to the balance sheets of middle-class families.”
Among the bottom 90% of households, 40% of assets are in real estate, and for the bottom 50%, real estate makes up roughly half of their wealth. “Housing matters more as you move down the economic ladder,” Krimmel notes. Price swings in the housing market therefore impact middle-class homeowners far more than the ultra-wealthy, whose fortunes are tied more closely to stock market movements.
Where Wealth Concentrates
The number of Americans with $30 million or more reached 208,090, according to Altrata, a global wealth intelligence firm. Another report by Henley & Partners found the U.S. leads the world in the number of millionaires (over 6 million), centi-millionaires ($100 million+) at 10,835, and billionaires at 867.
New York City has the most millionaires and centi-millionaires, while the tech-heavy Bay Area is home to the largest number of U.S. billionaires, with 82.
The growing gap between the wealthiest and the rest of the country has fueled what economists call a “K-shaped economy,” where affluent Americans see incomes and net worth rise while lower-income households struggle to keep up. This disparity is especially visible in real estate: high-end buyers and equity-rich sellers push the luxury market up, while first-time and budget-conscious buyers face tougher conditions on the lower end.
