Press Release

Press Release - Spectrem Group’s 2019 Market Insights Report Reveals 10th Consecutive Annual Increase in Wealthy American Households - March 12, 2019

CHICAGO, March 12, 2019 – For the 10th consecutive year, the number of wealthy U.S. households reached a new high, Spectrem Group reported today in its Market Insights Report 2019. Increasing 2.5 percent in 2018, the number of U.S. households with a net worth between $1 million and $5 million, not including primary residence (NIPR), now stands at 10.23 million. Similar increases were also recorded in all other wealth segments measured.

The report analyzes changes in the number of affluent American households based on net worth, from the Mass Affluent ($100,000 as the minimum) to the $25 million plus segment. The report also includes information about their investment habits and behaviors based on advisor usage and occupation. 

Key findings include:

  • In 2018, there were 31.2 million Mass Affluent households with a net worth between $100,000 and $1 million, NIPR. That is an increase of 200,000 households from 2017.
  • The number of Millionaires, defined in the report as those with a net worth between $1 million and $5 million, climbed to 10.23 million, an increase of 250,000 compared with 2017. Including the wealth segments referenced below, there are 11.8 million Americans with a net worth of at least $1 million.
  • The Ultra High Net Worth market, in which net worth is between $5 million and $25 million, grew to 1,397,000 households, an increase of 47,000 from 2017.
  • There are now 173,000 households with a net worth exceeding $25 million, an increase of 1,000 households from the previous year. In the 2018 Market Insights report, there was an increase of 16,000 households with a net worth exceeding $25 million, so the 2019 report shows the growth in that wealth segment, as well as in all others, slowed considerably.

“In 2018, the increase in the number of U.S. wealthy households slowed as a result of weakening global economic growth and a contentious U.S. political environment,” said Spectrem Group President George H. Walper, Jr. “While net household wealth among affluent investors continued to increase last year, it did not match the pace it had experienced in prior years. Despite this, the total number of households in the upper wealth segments in the United States has nearly doubled since the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008.”

Additional information on Spectrem studies can be found at Spectrem.com.

 

About Spectrem Group: Spectrem Group (www.spectrem.com) strategically analyzes its ongoing primary research with investors to assist financial providers and advisors in understanding the Voice of the Investor.