This page was last updated in its entirety in 2012. The figures below reflect net worth information for members of Congress based on data OpenSecrets.org calculated. As of June 2025, Ballotpedia did not identify any other organizations that tracked congressional net worth across the years. One resource, investment research platform Quiver Quantitative, estimated real time congressional net worth as of June 2025. Click here to view its dataset.
In 2018, 229 of 535 (43%) members of Congress had an average net worth of at least $1 million.[1] According to analysis conducted by Politifact, 5% to 12% of U.S. citizens had a net worth of at least $1 million.[2] In 2012, a majority (50%) of Congress had an average net worth of at least $1 million, an historic first.[3]
Congressional net worth differs depending on how it is calculated. For example, OpenSecrets said of its methodology, "It is difficult to gauge what a lawmaker is worth because disclosure forms do not require exact values. Instead, lawmakers report the value of assets and liabilities within a range. ... To calculate net worth, therefore, we added a lawmaker's ranges of assets and subtracted their range of liabilities. Next, we calculated the midpoint of the resulting range and used this figure for [our rankings]."[1] News outlet Roll Call, on the other hand, looked at minimum net worth, finding only 39% of Congress had a net worth of at least $1 million.[2] Quiver Quantitative's live estimates, unlike OpenSecrets, did not include outstanding liabilities.[4]
Analysis provided on this page includes:
- A complete list of the average net worth of Congress from 2004 to 2011/12
- The ten wealthiest (and poorest) members of both the House and Senate from 2010 to 2012
- The net worth of new members of Congress from 2005 to 2015
- How much the congressional delegations of each state were worth from 2004 to 2011
- A complete list of the net worth averages for individual congressional members from 2004 to 2011
For information on which members saw the highest change during their tenure, please see Ballotpedia's page on the Changes in Net Worth of U.S. Senators and Representatives (Personal Gain Index).
Average worth
Note: Report numbers may reflect incoming and outgoing members of congress.
Note: Report numbers may reflect incoming and outgoing members of congress.
Democrats
Note: Report numbers may reflect incoming and outgoing members of congress.
Republicans
Note: Report numbers may reflect incoming and outgoing members of congress.
Independents
Note: Report numbers may reflect incoming and outgoing members of congress.
Top and bottom
Senators
Mark Warner (D-VA) was the wealthiest senator in 2012, with an estimated net worth of $257,481,658.
Mark Pryor (D-AR) was the least wealthy senator in 2012, with an estimated net worth of $8,500
Representatives
Darrell Issa (R-CA) was the wealthiest representative in 2012, with an estimated net worth of $464,115,018
David Valadao (R-CA) was the least wealthy representative in 2012, with an estimated net worth of -$12,167,002
Previous years
Congressional freshmen
Below are average net worth numbers for first year freshman members for each recent session of Congress.
109th Congress
110th Congress
111th Congress
113th Congress
State averages by year
Click the tabs below to view the state averages for a particular year.
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
Data and methodology
Data
Every year members of congress are required by law to disclose certain financial information regarding personal assets and liabilities. OpenSecrets.org (The Center for Responsive Politics), a self-proclaimed "nonpartisan guide to money's influence on U.S. elections and public policy," tracks the financial information, and posts it publicly under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. That data, currently available for the years 2004 to 2010, is listed in part below in the section Individual data.
Congressional financial disclosure forms use value ranges, rather than precise amounts, when reporting assets and liabilities. OpenSecrets gathers this information to build a range of potential values. For instance, if three assets are listed at a value range of $1,001-$15,000, the total range of assets would be listed as a minimum of $3,003 (3 X $1,001) and a maximum value would be $45,000 (3 X $15,000). OpenSecrets combines all assets and liability to form a total potential range of values, and then provides an average value as the best guess of each individual's net worth.[7]
Analysis
Ballotpedia staff took OpenSecrets predicted net worth averages for all reported members of congress and using statistical software calculated yearly averages and changes for various congressional subsets.
Limitations
OpenSecrets notes some important limitations to the data:[7]
- Data is not available for a limited number of congressional members.
- The top range for item valuation is listed as "Over $50 million" on forms. When possible OpenSecrets tried to determine a more accurate figure.
- The top range for Senate spousal assets is listed as Over $1 million." When possible OpenSecrets tried to determine a more accurate figure.
- Property (such as personal residences) and non-income producing investments are not required to be reported under ethics laws. However, all mortgages are required to be disclosed.
Individual data
Senate
House of Representatives
Former congressional members in the Executive Branch
See also
External links
Disclaimer: All data relating to the average net worth of individual members of congress from OpenSecrets.org/
The Center for Responsive Politics is posted under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. All other content, including data analysis of net worth change, is posted under Ballotpedia's standard content license.
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 OpenSecrets, "Net Worth - 2018," accessed June 11, 2025
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Politifact, "The percent of millionaires in Congress is 50% while the percent among the U.S. public is 1 percent," January 12, 2020
- ↑ OpenSecrets, "Millionaires' Club: For First Time, Most Lawmakers are Worth $1 Million-Plus," January 9, 2014
- ↑ Quiver Quantitative, "Congress Live Net Worth Tracker," accessed June 12, 2025
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Reports from the financial year before members entered Congress are included when available
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Cite error: Invalid
<ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named reports
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 OpenSecrets, "About the Personal Finances Data & CRP's Methodology"