PERSONAL FINANCES - [OF U.S. CONGRESS]
In some ways, lawmakers' finances look a lot like those of many Americans. They include diverse portfolios of stocks, bonds, mutual funds and real estate. They have bank accounts, credit cards and mortgages. The difference: Politicians generally have more money, must make their investments public and routinely have access to nonpublic information.
this section, explore what lawmakers reported in personal financial disclosures through 2015, which we used to estimate their net worth. (Learn about our methodology and why these reports matter).
Richest Members of Congress, 2015
Below are the top ten richest members of both the House and Senate, collectively they account for almost half of the entire net worth of Congress.
| Name | Estimated Wealth |
|---|---|
 |
$330,050,015 |
 |
$313,556,221 |
 |
$238,157,630 |
 |
$232,816,089 |
 |
$177,149,145 |
 |
$115,534,558 |
 |
$100,643,521 |
 |
$95,569,028 |
 |
$81,745,158 |
 |
$79,067,057 |
Poorest Members of Congress, 2015
The salary of a typical member of Congress is $174,000. No one is qualifying for food stamps, but some lawmakers carry significant personal and/or business debt. Here are those "poorest" members.
| Name | Estimated Wealth |
|---|---|
 |
-$24,367,004 |
 |
-$2,240,994 |
 |
-$2,052,449 |
 |
-$1,592,001 |
 |
-$1,178,470 |
 |
-$461,498 |
 |
-$387,500 |
 |
-$385,498 |
 |
-$375,000 |
 |
-$365,999 |
Not all politicians come into office wealthy – but many leave that way. Here are the top 10 winners of the past decade.
| Name | Growth Percentage | Avg. Wealth 2005 | Avg. Wealth 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
213592.4% | $32,500 | $69,450,025 |
 |
4900.1% | -$99,997 | $4,800,003 |
 |
4457.9% | $267,511 | $12,193,002 |
 |
3973.0% | -$16,499 | $639,005 |
 |
2994.3% | $81,537 | $2,523,001 |
 |
2441.6% | -$32,500 | $761,010 |
 |
1933.1% | $83,001 | $1,687,509 |
 |
1921.3% | $175,505 | $3,547,506 |
 |
1658.7% | $231,502 | $4,071,509 |
 |
1570.9% | $223,002 | $3,726,047 |
Estimated Wealth Over Time
This graph displays the median of the estimated net worth of Senate and House members. In 2015, for example, half of the Senate was worth more than $3,132,848 million. In the House, half of the members were worth less than $888,508.
The tables on this page are based on 2015 filings, the latest personal finance disclosure information available. Explore specific politicians in our "Net Worth" section.
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