The United States is producing more millionaires than ever. Here’s why.

The United States created 736,000 new millionaires last year, bringing the total number of Americans with such wealth to a record 8.7 million, according to a new report.

Millionaires’ wealth is measured by investable assets, excluding individuals’ primary residences, collectibles, consumables and consumer durable goods, consultancy Capgemini said in its World Wealth Report 2026, released on Thursday. The number of American millionaires is the highest since Capgemini began tracking wealth trends three decades ago, the company told CBS News.

The stock market has been a major driver of the rise in new millionaires, with the S&P 500 Composite Index and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index rising about 18% and 21%, respectively, last year. Wealthy Americans also increased their stock allocations last year by about 5 percentage points, from 22% to 27% of their portfolios, increasing their wealth, Capgemini said.

The increase in millionaires also highlights a growing divide in the United States between low- and high-income households, as many Americans struggle to afford the cost of living. Households earning less than $50,000 a year are increasingly pessimistic, while those with incomes above $100,000 are showing greater confidence, according to Torsten Slok, Apollo’s chief economist.

“This divergence is likely because lower-income households are worried about rising gasoline prices, while higher-income households are focused on rising stock prices,” Slok wrote in a May 6 blog post.

When your stock portfolio and 401(k) are growing — with the S&P 500 up 10.6% so far in 2026 — it’s easier to feel good about yourself. Yet about half of Americans lack access to a retirement plan, leaving them struggling with high gas prices and high inflation without the cushion of growing investment wealth.

Who is the typical American millionaire?

Although Capgemini has not collected demographic data on America’s millionaires, other research offers insight into wealthy Americans.

The typical new millionaire is a Gen Xer or baby boomer with much of their wealth tied up in retirement investments, according to financial services group Empower. Americans typically cross the millionaire threshold between the ages of 50 and 60, with those in their 60s holding an average of $1.2 million in retirement assets, the group said in a report.

Millionaires also share some behavioral traits, Empower found. For one thing, 95% of them own their own homes, compared to about 66% of the overall U.S. population.

Although Capgemini excluded primary residences from its analysis, previous research shows a strong link between homeownership and wealth. Homeowners had an average net worth of $1.5 million in 2022, compared to $154,000 for renters, according to the Federal Reserve’s most recent Survey of Consumer Finances.

Yet becoming a millionaire may not have the same cachet as it did ten or twenty years ago, when it was considered a mark of wealth. Today, Americans estimate they need to have an average wealth of $5.3 million to be considered “financially successful,” Empower found.

Edited by Alain Sherter

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