The 0.1% holds about 15% of the nation’s total wealth, with average household wealth of over $200 million each The ultrawealthy aren’t just pulling away from average Americans. Buoyed by a stock-market boom that has added trillions of dollars to their net worth, the extremely rich are even pulling away from other rich Americans. The top 0.1% wealthiest Americans have seen their total wealth more than double since the end of 2019, according to new data from the Federal Reserve.

In dollar terms, the very richest Americans have gained a total of $14.5 trillion in wealth over that period, with most of that—about $10 trillion—coming from gains in stocks and mutual funds. The 0.1% now control about $28 trillion, or about 15% of the nation’s total wealth, which amounts to nearly $186 trillion. The average wealth for a household in this group is more than $200 million.

As of 2022, the minimum for the top 0.1% was $45.8 million, according to the most detailed data available from the Fed. With wealth among the group up by roughly 50% since then, that threshold is much higher now. The people who fall into this group aren’t usually traditional salaried workers.

Rather, they are much more likely to be the owner of a bunch of car dealerships or an heir living off investment income. The ultrawealthy’s recent gains from the stock market dwarf the total wealth of the bottom 50% of all Americans, which is about $4 trillion. The average household in the top 0.1% holds over 3,000 times as much wealth as a bottom-half household does.

In the top 0.1% by wealth, 37% earn most of their income from businesses, and 26% derive it from capital gains. Only 10% derived most of their income from wages and salaries. The biggest factor in this phenomenon is that wealthy people simply own a lot of stocks.

In the year ended June 30, when the S&P 500 gained 21%, the top 0.1% received nearly $4 trillion of new wealth from the market.