Wage growth in the U.S. has been faster for higher-income households, hitting three percent in December 2025, compared to 1.5 percent and 1.1 percent for middle- and low-income households. Indeed, there were about one thousand “moderate millionaires” – those with assets from $1 million to $5 million – created every day in 2025, according to UBS. Moving farther along the spectrum of wealth, the top one percent of Americans held about $55 trillion in assets in the third quarter of 2025, as the wealthy have been able to take advantage of outsize and record increases in both equity and home prices as well as corporate profits. By delving deeper into the demographics of the record society-wide wealth, as well as the priorities, spending habits and lifestyle choices of the affluent, we get a clearer picture of how the wealthy are propping up the U.S. economy.