The United States has more millionaires than any other country: about 23.6 million adults at the end of 2025, over 40% of the world’s total, according to UBS. Counted by family, the Federal Reserve finds about 29.1 million US families, 21.5% of all families, with a net worth of $1 million or more. Here is what the data shows, and what is and isn’t known about where they live.
US Millionaire Statistics at a Glance
| Metric | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| US millionaires (adults), end of 2025 | About 23.6 million | UBS Global Wealth Report 2026 |
| US share of the world’s millionaires | Over 40% | UBS Global Wealth Report 2026 |
| New US millionaires in 2025 | More than 440,000 | UBS Global Wealth Report 2026 |
| Millionaire families, 2025 | 29.1 million (21.5% of families) | Federal Reserve SCF |
| Median age of a millionaire household head | 63 | Federal Reserve SCF |
The UBS total and global share are as reported by The Hill and CNBC from UBS’s report; the 440,000 figure is from UBS’s own release. UBS counts individual adults; the Federal Reserve counts families (households), so the two measures differ.
What Percentage of Americans Are Millionaires?
It depends on whether you count people or households. About 21.5% of US families have a net worth of $1 million or more, counting home equity and retirement accounts. Per adult the share is lower, roughly 1 in 11, because a millionaire family usually includes more than one adult.
Being a millionaire is mostly a matter of age: only about 1.7% of families headed by someone under 35 are millionaires, against 30.9% of those aged 65 to 74. See millionaire statistics for the breakdown by age, education and race.
Most millionaires built their wealth themselves. In Ramsey Solutions’ National Study of Millionaires, a survey of over 10,000 US millionaires in 2017–2018:
- 79% received no inheritance at all, and only 3% inherited $1 million or more
- Nearly three-quarters had never carried a credit card balance
- 8 in 10 came from families at or below middle income
Which States Have the Most Millionaires?
The Census Bureau publishes state-level household wealth tables, and private firms publish their own estimates of millionaire households by state, which differ by method and year. Two patterns show up in the estimates we found:
- By total number, the most populous states lead, with California first.
- As a share of households, Phoenix Marketing International’s 2019 ranking, the latest edition we found, put New Jersey, Maryland, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Hawaii at the top. Phoenix counts households with $1 million or more in investable assets, excluding the value of their home, a narrower measure than net worth.
The best official state-level wealth data is the Census Bureau’s median household net worth by state. Three of those five states (Hawaii, New Jersey and Maryland) are also in its top ten for 2024; Connecticut ranks 14th and Massachusetts 21st:
| Rank | State | Median Net Worth | Excluding Home Equity | Median Home Equity (owners) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hawaii | $643,300 | $218,000 | $600,000 |
| 2 | Washington | $402,800 | $132,500 | $375,000 |
| 3 | Colorado | $385,200 | $125,200 | $355,000 |
| 4 | New Hampshire | $378,900 | $128,900 | — |
| 5 | New Jersey | $354,400 | $84,860 | $328,000 |
| 6 | Virginia | $314,500 | $113,100 | $250,000 |
| 7 | Maine | $312,600 | $131,300 | — |
| 8 | Utah | $311,500 | $94,060 | $350,000 |
| 9 | Idaho | $310,300 | $99,880 | $300,000 |
| 10 | Maryland | $300,600 | $164,500 | $270,000 |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation, State-Level Wealth Tables 2024 (median household net worth; national median $204,900).
See average net worth by state for every state, and billionaires by state for where the very richest live.
Does Being a Millionaire Mean You’re Rich?
In one sense, yes: a $1 million net worth puts a family ahead of nearly four in five US families. But a million dollars buys far less than it once did. Using the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index, $1 million in 1955 had about the buying power of $12 million in 2025. Schwab’s 2025 survey found Americans say it takes an average of $2.3 million to be wealthy.
A millionaire also lives very differently depending on location: $1 million goes much further in rural Tennessee than in Manhattan.
How Long Does It Take to Become a Millionaire?
Most millionaires get there through decades of saving and investing rather than windfalls. The typical millionaire household head is 63, and 96.1% of millionaire families own a home while 87.1% hold retirement accounts. Saving $1,000 a month at a 7% average annual return takes about 27½ years to reach $1 million; saving $2,000 a month takes about 19½ years.
| Common Millionaire Habit | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| Long-term investing | Uses compound growth over decades |
| Living below their means | Creates margin to save and invest |
| Avoiding consumer debt | Keeps income available for investing |
| Homeownership | Often makes up a large share of net worth |
| Patience | Allows wealth to grow steadily over time |
For benchmarks on where your net worth should stand at your age, see net worth by age. For the path to seven figures, see millionaire status.
Part of our net worth guide.
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