Last year, the average net worth of American families surpassed $1 million for the first time, The Wall Street Journal reported Oct. 27.
It's a notable 42% increase from 2019, when the Federal Reserve reported an average net worth of $749,000.
There are "gaping" wealth disparities in the U.S. today, the Journal writes, but the rise of mini-millionaires is not just a phenomenon of the upper 1%, though a small number of billionaires do float the average upward. About 16 million American families have wealth exceeding $1 million, up from 9.8 million families in 2019, and nearly 8 million families have wealth exceeding $2 million, up from 4.7 million.
These mini-millionaires generally earn between $150,000 and $200,000 per year. Ninety percent own stocks and 87% own their own home — so greatly benefited from low interest rates — according to the Survey of Consumer Finances, the most detailed dataset on household wealth. In many parts of the country, this group would be considered upper middle class.
College graduates are most likely to fall into this category, according to the Journal; the average graduate's net worth is more than $2 million (again, mind the skew from disproportionately high earners), and 45% of people with college degrees became millionaires between ages 55 and 64, according to the survey.
The growing upper middle class — and their accumulating wealth — can be attributed to pursuing university educations, building retirement accounts and amassing household savings, and purchasing homes, per the Journal.
"For the most part, they became wealthy slowly, and were well-positioned when pandemic-era stimulus programs boosted asset values," columnist Josh Zumbrun wrote.