Dollar banknotes (Courtesy: Reuters photo)
For years, the spotlight has been on billionaires. But a much larger and increasingly influential group sits just below that level.
Across the United States, the number of households worth tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars has surged. These are people who may not be globally famous, but they are wealthy enough to shape markets in very visible ways.
This shift has been building over decades, powered by rising stock markets, booming private investments and growing valuations of small and midsize businesses. What’s different now is the scale. There are simply far more of these households than before, and their impact is becoming harder to ignore, the Wall Street Journal reported.
How big this group has become
The numbers show just how quickly this class has expanded.
There are now roughly 430,000 US households with a net worth of $30 million or more. Within that, about 74,000 households are worth over $100 million.
That growth has outpaced population increases by a wide margin. In other words, this isn’t just a richer country overall. Wealth is becoming more concentrated at the top, with a larger share of people moving into ultrawealthy brackets.
Why their wealth is growing so fast
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The key reason is not just that these households are rich. It’s that their money is growing much faster than everyone else’s.
Over the past 50 years, the wealth of the top 0.1 percent has increased more than 13 times, even after adjusting for inflation. That kind of compounding has dramatically widened the gap between the very wealthy and everyone else.
A big part of this comes down to the types of assets they own. Unlike most households, which rely heavily on their home, the ultrawealthy are deeply invested in financial markets and private businesses.
For the richest 0.1 percent, nearly three-quarters of their wealth sits in equities, mutual funds and private companies. When markets rise, their wealth accelerates sharply.
The performance of indices like the S&P 500, which has more than tripled over the past decade, has played a major role in this surge. Private business valuations have also climbed, further boosting their net worth.
The rest are only just catching up
The contrast with the bottom half of households is stark. For years, the bottom 50 percent struggled to build any meaningful wealth. In fact, their average wealth turned negative in the mid-1990s and worsened during the 2008 financial crisis.
It’s only in recent years, particularly after pandemic-era stimulus and rising home prices, that this group has seen its average wealth turn positive again.
That recovery matters, but it doesn’t come close to matching the pace at which wealth has grown at the top.
Where this wealth is concentrated
Another shift that stands out is where this money actually sits. It’s not just clustered in the usual places like Silicon Valley or Wall Street anymore. A growing chunk of these ultrawealthy households live outside the big coastal cities. Many of them have built their wealth the old-fashioned way, through regional businesses like car dealerships or mid-sized companies that have quietly become very valuable over time.
There’s also a clear generational angle to this. Baby boomers make up a large share of this group, and it’s not hard to see why. They bought homes and invested in markets decades ago, when prices were far lower, and have simply ridden that long wave of growth. What looks like sudden wealth today is often the result of years of steady accumulation.
How they are changing spending patterns
As this group grows, so does the market built around them. Luxury brands like Hermès, Brunello Cucinelli and Ferrari are seeing strong demand from the richest customers, even as companies targeting the upper-middle class report softer sales.
The same pattern shows up in travel and real estate. Demand for ultra-luxury homes and high-end travel experiences has risen sharply since the pandemic.
Private aviation offers a good example. While overall business jet usage has stayed relatively flat, services like NetJets, which allow fractional ownership and appeal to multimillionaires rather than billionaires, have seen a noticeable uptick.
Why this shift matters
What makes this trend important is not just the numbers, but how it’s starting to change the economy around it.
As more people move into this ultrawealthy bracket, their preferences begin to shape what businesses focus on. Companies are leaning more into premium products, luxury services and high-end experiences because that’s where the demand is growing. In some cases, that’s leaving the middle of the market looking a bit squeezed.
At the same time, this trend points to a deeper divide. People who own financial assets like stocks or businesses are seeing their wealth grow much faster than those who mainly depend on salaries or property.
So this isn’t just an abstract conversation about inequality. It’s showing up in real ways, in what gets built, who it’s built for and where economic opportunities are actually opening up.