In 2026 US wealth concentrated faster than ever at the very top: the richest 0.1% captured two-thirds of the wealth gained in a single quarter while the middle class kept shrinking.
America's midterm elections are being fought over affordability, but what is actually inflamed is inequality. In an October 2026 Pew survey, about six in ten Americans said the gap was too large, including four in ten Republicans.
Politics has not followed. Support for California's proposed wealth tax on billionaires has been fading, and in 2025 Republicans passed a bill that cut taxes for the wealthy and trimmed safety-net programmes.
The numbers are ugly
Federal data show the top 1%'s share of wealth rose from 31.7% to 32.5% between the first and second quarters of 2026, a gain of over $8.5 trillion. In 1999 the figure was 27.4%.
The middle 40% hold just 28.8% of all wealth despite being 40 times larger than the top 1%, down from 32.9% in 1999.
Most striking are the top 0.1%: they own 15% of all wealth, nearly half the total held by the entire top 1%. Two-thirds of the wealth gained in those two quarters went to this one-thousandth of the population.
Why it is them
Most of their money sits in stocks and business ownership, roughly three-quarters of their portfolios. The tech and AI boom lifted share prices, corporate profits soared, and they captured the most.
They can also borrow against their shares, usually tax-free, instead of selling. The middle is the mirror image: nearly two-thirds of its wealth is in homes and retirement savings, with corporate equity at just 15%.
It is not only taxes
The 2025 law let federal subsidies for Affordable Care Act plans lapse, and about 5 million people are expected to drop coverage as premiums rise. Higher energy prices and tariffs add to the bills of lower and middle earners.
New York Fed economists estimated that without tariffs these goods would have fallen 1% over the year; instead they rose 2.9%. The gap is not fate. It is policy.
Why it matters
Inequality coverage usually suggests the rich are simply running faster, but the real story is that the rich are splitting into tiers: almost all new wealth goes to the top thousandth, riding corporate equity and share prices, while most people's net worth is tied up in a house. That is what makes tax cuts, tariffs and energy prices land so differently on different households.
Curated from high-quality sources, with concise summaries and key takeaways.
