How many individuals or families in the US have a net worth of at least $50 million?

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 09 Feb 2005 18:46 PST

Good question, JB.

I've looked into wealth statistics quite a bit, myself, and it turns
out there aren't any good, recent sources of information on how the
high-end of the other half lives.

Statistics have been collected at different times by the IRS, Census,
and the Federal Reserve Bank, but they all tend to stop at levels
lower than $50 million, and they're all a bit dated at this point (the
latest IRS numbers on wealth cover 1998!).

If you're interested in some older data -- and levels that are either
well below the $50 million cutoff, or well above (e.g., the number of
billionaires), then I can summarize the available info for you.

Let me know if this would be of interest as an answer to your question.

pafalafa-ga


P.S.  Although I see in the comments below that another researcher may
have found something, so who knows....maybe the data is out there
after all.

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Clarification of Question by jb111-ga on 09 Feb 2005 21:59 PST

The 2003 data on the number of US and Canadians with 30 MM or more is
a possibility. Let's wait a few days and see if anyone has any more
precise info for me at the 50MM or higher level. If not, then we can
talk.

Thanks!

The closest I have been able to come is a reliable number of combined
U.S. and Canadian individuals with a net worth of $30 million or more
in 2003.  If this turns out to be the closest approximation of the
exact information you are seeking, I would be happy to post it as an
answer if it would meet your needs.

What I could add off the top of my head is Thomas Stanley, the author
of the book "The Millionaire Next Door". I believe he did a
demographic study of wealthy people in the US for that book, though I
do not know if he did the same in recent times. Perhaps you could try
contacting him, though I haven't found on the Net any way of
contacting him directly.