Millionaire Statistics

Did you know that the average period Americans need to reach a net worth of $1 million is 28 years? That’s one of the many impressive millionaire statistics we will cover below. After all, everyone wants to peek inside the luxurious world of expensive vehicles and mansions. Yet, the road to becoming a millionaire isn’t an easy one. It takes many sacrifices, dedication, and constant work. Do you have what it takes to join the 1% of the global adult population worth $1 million? That’s not on us to say. What we can do is share some amusing trends that can help you outline your strategy for hitting the $1M threshold.

Millionaire Statistics (Editor’s Choice)

• Amazon’s Jeff Bezos is the world’s richest person with a $189.3 billion net worth.
• In 2019, 1% of the adult population, or 51.9 million individuals, were millionaires.
• There are 22.46 million millionaires in the United States.
• 40% of the millionaires live in the US and 11% in China.
• 61% of US millionaires are between 60 and 79 years old.
• On average, it takes 28 years for Americans to earn $1 million.
• Diane Hendricks tops the list of self-made female millionaires with her $8 million net worth.
• 75% of US millionaires are white.
• Only 13.5% of multi-millionaires in the USA are women.

US Millionaire Trends and Stats

1. As of February 2021, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are the wealthiest Americans.

Amazon’s executive chairman is worth about $189.3 billion, or about $7 billion more than the runner-up, Tesla and SpaceX’s Elon Musk whose net worth is estimated at $182.2 billion. Bill Gates meanwhile ranks third with $123.7 billion. The millionaire demographics show that there was only one woman among the top 10 richest Americans. Alice Walton, Walmart’s heiress, scored the 10^th position with her net worth of $65.1 billion.

(Statista)

2. Nearly two-thirds of US millionaires are between 60 and 79.

Most millionaires in the US are between 60 and 79 years old, according to millionaires by age data. Namely, 30% belong in the 60-69 age group and an additional 31% in the 70-79 age group. Nearly one-fourth (or 23%) of US citizens with wealth over $1 million are 50-59, show the millionaire statistics by age.

About 15% are at least 80, Statista’s US millionaires by age data shows, and around 5% are over 90. Younger generations are less likely to have a net worth of $1 million. Only 7% among those aged 40-49 can boast a fortune of that size. About 6% of US millionaires by age group are under 29, while only 2% are aged 30-39.

If you’ve ever wondered how many millionaires under 30 there are in America, it turns out about 8% is the right answer. With 22.46 million millionaires stateside, about 1.79 million are under 30.

(Statista)

3. White and Asian Americans have the highest chances of becoming a millionaire.

US millionaires by race data shows that Hispanics and African Americans, in contrast, have the lowest chances of joining the millionaire club. The latest millionaire statistics for the US show that the chances of Asian Americans with a high school degree to become millionaires are 6%. White, Hispanic, and African Americans with the same degree have chances of respective 5%, 2%, and 1%.

With a Master’s Degree, white Americans have the highest chances of 38% earning $1 million. Asian, Hispanic, and African Americans have chances to become a millionaire of 27%, 11%, and 6%, respectively.

(Financial Samurai)

4. 80% of millionaires invested in their 401(k) plan.

According to our average 401k balance by age stats, Americans aged 30-39 have average 401k savings of only $42,400. With 80% of millionaires having aggressively invested in their 401(k), it makes sense why younger generations are far from hitting $1 million net worth. Moreover, 75% of Americans worth at least $1 million invested outside their company plans, the Dave Ramsey 401k millionaire statistics show.

(Dave Ramsey)

5. 94% of millionaires spend less than they make.

How much you spend is more important than how much you make. At least when it comes to hitting the $1-million threshold. Besides living on less money than they make, the richest people also spend about $200 on restaurants. Moreover, approximately 93% of people valued at $1 million use coupons when shopping.

(Dave Ramsey)

6. Over three-fourths of American millionaires never received any inheritance.

For most of the richest people in the US, becoming a millionaire was playing the long game. In fact, the self-made millionaire statistics will surprise you when you discover that 79% of millionaires didn’t receive an inheritance. About 21% of them received some inheritance, while 3% got at least $1 million. 

(Dave Ramsey)

7. Only 15% of US millionaires hold senior leadership roles.

About 93% of individuals with a net worth of at least $1 million said they made their fortune by working hard. Having a big salary wasn’t the biggest factor in entering the millionaires club, in their opinion. American millionaire statistics confirm that the top 5 careers for millionaires are engineer, management, attorney, teacher, and accountant. The average amount of time for earning $1 million was 28 years.

(Dave Ramsey)

8. California, New York, and Florida are the US states with the most millionaires.

The list of top five states by millionaires is complete with Texas and Illinois. As for where millionaires represent the highest percentage of the population, New York City leads the way with 8.51%. Millionaire statistics further point to Los Angeles (5.34%), Chicago (4.45%), and San Francisco (3.46%) as other cities with lots of millionaires.

(Dave Ramsey)

9. Most millionaires are married, have one child, and own a home.

Are you interested in the profile of the average millionaire? Let’s see where they stand:

• Married – 76%
• Number of children – 1
• Owns a business – 22%
• Owns a home – 94%
• Has a degree – 42%
• Number of properties – 2.4
• Average real estate portfolio – $919,000

The average age of millionaires in 2020 was 62 years.

(ColdwellBankerLuxury)

10. Diane Hendricks has been the richest self-made female millionaire three years in a row.

According to the Forbes 2020 self-made millionaire statistics, Diane Hendricks is the richest self-made woman. She’s worth $8 billion and made her fortune through co-founding ABC Supply, one of the largest wholesale roofing, siding, and windows distributors.

The other four women in the top-five list are:

• Judy Faulkner – $5.5 billion – CEO and founder of software company Epic Systems;
• Meg Whitman – $5 billion – business executive and former CEO of HPE;
• Judy Love – $4.7 billion – co-founder and co-owner of the Love’s Travel Stops and Country Stores chain;
• Marian Ilitch – $4.1 billion – owner of the Little Caesars pizza chain.

(Forbes)

11. Robert Smith is the wealthiest African American in the United States.

While African Americans have fewer millionaires by race, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t successful businessmen and businesswomen among them. The latest Black millionaire statistics place Robert Smith and his $6 billion on top of the list of wealthiest African Americans. He is followed by David Steward ($3.7bn), Oprah Winfrey ($2.7bn), Kanye West ($1.8 billion), and Michael Jordan ($1.6bn).

(USA Today)

12. Over 80% of American millionaires are male.

While there were 86.5% of male billionaires in the States in 2020, only 13.5% were female. This discrepancy of millionaires by gender is even more significant globally. Namely, only 11.9% of the world’s billionaires were women, based on millionaire demographics.

(Statista)

Becoming a Millionaire in the US

13. Nearly two-thirds of American millionaires graduated from public universities.

Approximately 62% of the USA’s richest people graduated from state schools or public universities. Only 8% said they went to prestigious private schools. Still, getting a college degree seems vital as 88% of American millionaires had it. In comparison, only 33% of the general US population graduated from college. These millionaire statistics reveal that education significantly increases people’s chances of hitting the $1-million mark.

(Dave Ramsey)

14. In 2017, only 29% of Americans expected to become a millionaire in their lifetime.

GoBankingRates surveyed its readers back in 2017, and the results showed that most people didn’t expect to hit the $1 million mark. While 71% responded ‘no’ to the question of whether they expect to become a millionaire, 29% were more confident. Interestingly, 62% had a plan for achieving this goal, while 38% didn’t have any strategies. Millionaire stats further show that 69% of Millennials and 55% of Baby Boomers had outlined how to build a wealth of at least $1 million.

(GOBankingRates)

15. Most Americans believe that learning to invest is the most important step to earning $1 million.

About 39.8% found learning how to invest essential, while other popular responses were saving more/spending less (17.8%) and paying off debt (17.6%). An additional 8.4% and 5.6% believed that the road to becoming a millionaire demands a college degree and a high-paying job.

(GOBankingRates)

Global Millionaire Stats

16. Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are also the richest people in the world in 2021.

Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s former CEO and current executive chairman, is worth $189.3 billion as of February 2021, making him the Earth’s wealthiest person since 2017. Elon Musk became the world’s second-richest person in 2020, and his net worth is now estimated at $182.2 billion. Tesla’s co-founder and CEO saw an impressive climb as his net worth was ‘only’ $24.6 billion in March 2020. These two were followed by the chairman of LVMH Bernard Arnault, whose net worth is $157.7 billion. Bill Gates ($123.7 billion) and Mark Zukerberg ($95.7 billion) round up the top five. 

(Statista)

17. Millionaires represent 1% of the adult population and account for over 40% of the total global net worth.

Did you know that only 1% of adults are millionaires? Well, that’s one of the most interesting facts about millionaires. By the end of 2019, the number of millionaires in the world hit 51.9 million, and their net worth was about $173.3 trillion. More precisely, the 1% held 43.4% of the total global net worth. By the end of 2018, there were 47 million millionaires in comparison, and the percent of millionaires in the world was 0.9. Their total net worth was lower at $158.3 trillion and represented 43.9% of the global wealth.

(Credit Suisse)

18. More than half of all millionaires live in the US or China.

According to the 2020 millionaire stats by Credit Suisse, about 51% of the world’s richest persons live in the US or China. The number of millionaires in the US is 20.2 million, accounting for 40%. An additional 11% are based in China, while Japan is home to 6% of the Earth’s millionaires. The UK boasts 5% of global millionaires, while Germany and France have 4% each.

(Credit Suisse)

19. Between 2019 and 2020, the US recorded the biggest number of new millionaires.

During this period, about 2.25 million adults joined the US millionaire club, according to the latest millionaire statistics. As for China, it recorded over 1.28 million new adults with wealth above $1 million between 2019 and 2020. The country now has a total of 5.78 million millionaires, much less than the 20.21 million in America. Brazil, in contrast, noted the highest negative change in the number of millionaires. Namely, the country lost 81,000 adults with wealth over $1,000,000 during the 12 months.

(Credit Suisse)

20. The number of millionaires in the US increased by 103.31% between 2010 and 2019.

Credit Suisse US millionaire statistics, there were 20.21 million individuals worth at least $1 million. Between 2019 and 2020, the figure increased by 2.25 million and went over 22 million. See how their number changed by year below:

• 2018 – 17.93 million
• 2017 – 16.47 million
• 2015 – 15.65 million
• 2010 – 9.94 million

(Credit Suisse)

21. The number of millionaires in Canada jumped by 60.22% between 2010 and 2019.

Millionaire statistics for Canada show that the number of people with a $1 million net worth has been growing. Yet, the increase isn’t as drastic as the one seen in the United States and China. By the end of 2019, Canada had 1.45 million millionaires, while between 2019 and 2020, the number jumped by an additional 200,000.

(Credit Suisse)

22. The number of millionaires in the UK grew by 91.05%.

Between 2010 and 2010, the number of UK millionaires doubled. There were 2.35 million wealthy Brits by the end of 2019. Their number increased by 133,000 between 2019 and 2020, according to millionaire statistics for the UK.

(Credit Suisse)

23. Europe is home to plenty of millionaires too.

According to the 2019 stats, the number of millionaires in Switzerland, France, and Germany was 884,000, 2.16 million, and 2.16 million, respectively. Data from 2018 shows that Italy and Spain were home to respective 1.51 million and 945,000 European millionaires. In Sweden, there were 368,000 millionaires in 2017.

(Credit Suisse)

24. The number of individuals with a net worth of $1 million Down Under increased by 89.33% between 2010 and 2019.

Millionaire statistics for Australia show that 1.42 million Aussies had over $1 million in 2019. Between 2019 and 2020, the country saw its total millionaire count grow by 137,000.

(Credit Suisse)

25. Between 2010 and 2019, the number of Chinese millionaires jumped by a stunning 618%.

China is the most impressive country when it comes to the increase in millionaires. By the end of 2019, China had 5.78 millionaires or 618% more than in 2010. Moreover, between 2019 and 2020, the country noted an additional 1.28 million individuals with a net worth of $1 million.

(Credit Suisse)

Millionaire FAQ

How many millionaires are there in the US?

The latest American millionaire statistics show that there are 22.46 million people with a net worth of at least $1 million. 

How many black millionaires are there in America?

According to Statista, about 8% of US millionaires were African Americans. These figures point to about 1.79 million African American millionaires in the country.

How many Hispanic millionaires are there in America?

Approximately 7% of millionaires in the US are Hispanic. Considering that there are 22.46 million millionaires in the country, the number of Hispanic millionaires is about 1.57 million. Still, Hispanics represent the fourth richest race in the US, right behind white, Asian, and African Americans.

How many new millionaires emerge every day?

Facts about millionaires show that the number of millionaires in America grows by 1,700 people a day. In China, the daily increase is much higher. Considering the country added about 1.28 million millionaires, the daily increase in 2020 was by nearly 3,500 individuals.

What percent of millionaires are self-made?

Fidelity Investments established that 88% of the millionaires in the world are self-made. Only 12% of them inherited at least 10% of their wealth. The rest work hard and long to build their fortune. About 79% of the wealthiest Americans, for example, never received any inheritance.

How millionaires made their money?

Global millionaire statistics show that the wealthiest people made their wealth by having multiple income streams — salaries, dividends, interest, and capital gains. There are four different paths to becoming a millionaire — saving and investing, building a successful career, becoming famous, and becoming an expert in your field.

Bottom Line

There you have it, now you know the profile of the average American millionaire. You also know where the most millionaires live and how long it takes to reach the coveted $1 million net worth. These millionaire statistics are a great guide for those who want to outline a strategy and try to join this elite club. Even if you start with nothing, it’s great to know that nearly 80% of American millionaires never received any inheritance.

References: Statista, Statista, Financial Samurai, Dave Ramsey, Dave Ramsey, ColdwellBankerLuxury, Forbes, USA Today, Statista, GOBankingRates, Statista, Credit Suisse