As of April 2025, Elon Musk was estimated as the wealthiest person in the United States with a net worth of around 342 billion dollars. Richest people in the United States - additional information Every year since 1982, the American business magazine Forbes has been compiling lists of the 400 richest people in the United States, known as the “Forbes 400.” In addition to that, since 1987, the publication has also been compiling a ranking of the 500 richest people in the world (excluding royalty and dictators), as well as more specialized tops, such as “World's Most Powerful Women,” “America's Richest Families,” “Most Valuable Brands” or “30 Under 30,” which focuses on young entrepreneurs from various fields which have gained millions in the past year by the use of social media, technical innovations and generally new and fresh approaches to business.

In 2023, there were around 748 billionaires in the United States. This was a slight increase from the previous year's total of 704, and a significant increase from the 66 billionaires in 1990.

In the first quarter of 2024, almost two-thirds percent of the total wealth in the United States was owned by the top 10 percent of earners. In comparison, the lowest 50 percent of earners only owned 2.5 percent of the total wealth. Income inequality in the U.S. Despite the idea that the United States is a country where hard work and pulling yourself up by your bootstraps will inevitably lead to success, this is often not the case. In 2023, 7.4 percent of U.S. households had an annual income under 15,000 U.S. dollars. With such a small percentage of people in the United States owning such a vast majority of the country’s wealth, the gap between the rich and poor in America remains stark. The top one percent The United States follows closely behind China as the country with the most billionaires in the world. Elon Musk alone held around 219 billion U.S. dollars in 2022. Over the past 50 years, the CEO-to-worker compensation ratio has exploded, causing the gap between rich and poor to grow, with some economists theorizing that this gap is the largest it has been since right before the Great Depression.

Graph and download economic data for Share of Net Worth Held by the Top 0.1% (99.9th to 100th Wealth Percentiles) (WFRBSTP1300) from Q3 1989 to Q1 2025 about shares, net worth, wealth, percentile, Net, and USA.

As of March 2024, California was the U.S. state with most billionaires, with *** billionaires calling the state home. New York was second, with *** resident billionaires.

In 2024, two of the three richest people in Latin America were Mexicans. The leader of the rank was the Mexican business magnate Carlos Slim, the 14th richest person in the world. Slim had a fortune of 102 billion U.S. dollars, derived from his multiple businesses and investments. At third place was a fellow Mexican businessman, German Larrea, with a fortune of nearly 27.3 billion dollars.

Billionaires' wealth distribution Within each country's economy, there exists a relatively small segment of wealthier individuals who contribute significantly to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of their respective countries. In Latin America, Chile stands out for its high concentration of wealth among billionaires, accounting for approximately 16 percent of the GDP. Mexico also exhibits a notable wealth concentration, with billionaires contributing around 12 percent of the country's GDP. Regarding the financial magnitude of these billionaires in Latin America, Mexico leads with an average individual wealth of approximately nine billion dollars, compared to an average wealth per adult of 43,140.
Income inequality In most countries within the region, the GINI Index, which measures income inequality among the population, falls within the range of 40 to 50. Notably, Colombia has the highest level of income inequality in Latin America, at 54.2. As a result of this income inequality, only around 2.8 percent of the population in the region is classified as having a high economic status, while the largest portion of the population consists of non-poor individuals with low incomes, and approximately 281 million people in the region live below the poverty line.

Graph and download economic data for Net Worth Held by the Bottom 50% (1st to 50th Wealth Percentiles) (WFRBLB50107) from Q3 1989 to Q1 2025 about net worth, wealth, percentile, Net, and USA.

According to the Hurun Global Rich List 2025, the United States housed the highest number of billionaires worldwide in 2025. In detail, there were *** billionaires living in the United States as of January that year. By comparison, *** billionaires resided in China. India, the United Kingdom, and Germany were also the homes of a significant number of billionaires that year. United States has regained its first place As the founder and exporter of consumer capitalism, it is no surprise that the United States is home to a large number of billionaires. Although China had briefly overtaken the U.S. in recent years, the United States has reclaimed its position as the country with the most billionaires in the world. Moreover, North America leads the way in terms of the highest number of ultra high net worth individuals – those with a net worth of more than ***** million U.S. dollars. The prominence of Europe and North America is a reflection of the higher degree of economic development in those states. However, this may also change as China and other emerging economies continue developing. Female billionaires Moreover, the small proportion of female billionaires does little to counter critics claiming the global economy is dominated by an elite comprised mainly of men. On the list of the 20 richest people in the world, only one was a woman. Moreover, recent political discourse has put a great amount of attention on the wealth held by the super-rich with the wealth distribution of the global population being heavily unequal.

The statistic shows the distribution of U.S. millionaires in 2013, by race and ethnicity. As of 2013, about 76 percent of U.S. millionaires were White/Caucasian.

Additional information on racial income inequality

The issue of racial inequality in regards to income and wealth has been a problem through the entirety of the history of the United States. The statistic above demonstrates how the percentage of millionaires that identify as Black/African Americans is disproportionate to the share of the population overall. While the disproportionate number of millionaires demonstrates an undesirable degree of income inequality it is at the bottom of the wealth ladder within American society that the issue is most pressing. The overrepresentation of African Americans in contrast to the population in unemployment statistics are cause for concern on the part of the government and society as a whole. In 2014, nearly 25 percent of surveyed families who placed themselves in the income bracket of under ten thousand dollars identified as black.

The percentage of non-white female business owners perhaps demonstrates that barriers to wealth exist but are diminished in unison. As barriers to wealth generation are removed for women, similar barriers are also being broken to allow for greater equality in the economic opportunities offered across the population of the United States. A central issue for policy makers is the time delay associated with policies aimed at reversing these inequalities. This was reflected in the 2015 Democratic and Republican presidential primary campaigns. Despite many major candidates discussing the issue none put forward meaningful proposals to address the problem. Even Senator Bernie Sanders who made addressing income inequality the cornerstone failed to separate the issue from income inequality generally. However, the global attention gained by movements such as ‘Black Lives Matter’ shows issues of racial inequality are prominent in the discourse of sections of the wider population if not forming a cornerstone of the political discourse in the United States.

A dataset listing the 20 richest cities in Montana for 2024, including information on rank, city, county, population, average income, and median income.

Amongst the selected Latin American countries, Mexico registered the largest average wealth of billionaires, at 8.97 billion U.S dollars in 2020. By contrast, the rest of the adult population had an average wealth of 41,530 dollars. This represented a wealth ratio of billionaires/general population of 216,079:1. Nevertheless, it was Argentina the nation with the largest inequality in the distribution of wealth. Billionaires' wealth in this South American country was equal to 3.7 percent of the national GDP.

A dataset listing New York counties by population for 2024.

A dataset listing the 20 richest counties in Georgia for 2024, including information on rank, county, population, average income, and median income.

With a net worth of 342 billion U.S. dollars, Elon Musk, the cofounder of seven companies, such as electric car maker Tesla and the rocket producer SpaceX, was the wealthiest man in the world in March 2025. The wealthiest people in the world Marc Zuckerberg, the cofounder of Meta Platforms, came second with a wealth of 235.6 billion U.S. dollars. Amazon-founder Jeff Bezos followed in third. All the 10 richest people in the world were men. Wealth distribution worldwide As of 2022, one percent of people held nearly half of the world's combined wealth. Moreover, 2.8 billion of the world's population hold a combined wealth of less than 10,000 U.S. dollars, compared to 59 million people having a combined wealth of 1 billion dollars or more, underlining the vast inequalities around the world. Where do the most affluent people live? Most millionaires live in the United States, while Hong Konk was the city hosting the largest number of high net worth individuals worldwide. The country with the highest number of billionaires is China.

Graph and download economic data for Share of Corporate Equities and Mutual Fund Shares Held by the Top 1% (99th to 100th Wealth Percentiles) (WFRBST01122) from Q3 1989 to Q1 2025 about mutual funds, wealth, equity, percentile, corporate, and USA.

A dataset listing the 20 richest cities in Alabama for 2024, including information on rank, city, county, population, average income, and median income.

A dataset listing the 20 richest counties in Illinois for 2024, including information on rank, county, population, average income, and median income.

A dataset listing the 20 richest cities in Missouri for 2024, including information on rank, city, county, population, average income, and median income.

The highest number of billionaires in 2023 was found in North America, reaching over 1,100. They were closely followed by Europe and Asia, whereas the gap down to the other regions of the world was significant.

A dataset listing the richest zip codes in Virginia per the most current US Census data, including information on rank and average income.