Despite a brief pandemic-induced recession, higher inflation and rising borrowing costs since 2020, the wealthy have gotten considerably wealthier.
The threshold to be in the top 10% of U.S. households by net worth grew from about $1.3 million to roughly $1.8 million over the last five years, largely due to rising stock and home values, according to a recent Visa analysis of 2024 U.S. Census Bureau survey data. That figure reflects the value of what households own — homes, vehicles, savings, retirement accounts, investments and other assets — minus any debts.
In absolute terms, households already in the top 10% by net worth saw their wealth grow more than any other cohort over the last five years, according to the Federal Reserve’s distribution of wealth data.
The income needed to be in the top 10% also increased, climbing from about $170,000 to roughly $210,000 over the same period, Visa’s analysis shows. For comparison, the U.S. median income is $83,730 as of 2024, per U.S Census Bureau data.
Visa defines “affluent” households as those who either earn at least $210,000 or have a net worth of about $1.8 million, a level that places them above 90% of U.S. households.
