Special Report
The Net Worth Of Every American President From Washington To Biden
Published:
This Independence Day, Americans celebrate the founding of our country, and the people who founded it. This includes several of the men who would become president: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Adams, and of course, George Washington. These individuals who made our country what it is today also happened to be some of the wealthiest who have ever served in office, and could afford the arguably modest salary for a position of its importance. But over the years, this has not always been the case.
Since 2001, the annual salary for the position of President of the United States has been fixed at $400,000. That figure, which is set by Congress, has been raised only five times since the birth of our nation (there are no automatic raises or cost-of-living bumps). Fringe benefits for a modern-day president include a $100,000 nontaxable travel account, $100,000 to redecorate the White House, and $50,000 in annual expenses, among other extras. (Here’s a complete list of the best perks of being the U.S. president.)
That doesn’t mean that earlier chief executives exactly suffered financially. George Washington’s annual salary of $25,000 was equivalent to over $700,000 in today’s dollars. In any case, in America’s early days, presidents tended to be well-off before they took office – at least in part because only property-owning white men were allowed to vote, and they tended to elect the wealthy. While there have been some middle-class presidents in the intervening years, many contemporary commanders-in-chief are also in quite good financial shape, having earned (or inherited) extravagant wealth before taking office. (Read a quick family history of every U.S. president.)
To identify the net worth of every US president from Washington to Biden, 24/7 Wall St. drew on a number of historical and contemporary sources, then adjusted the figures for inflation, as of 2023 using the Consumer Price Index drawn from the St. Louis Federal Reserve Economic Data.
Click here to see the the net worth of every American president from Washington to Biden
Because a number of presidents, particularly in the early 19th century, made and lost huge fortunes in a matter of a few years, we’ve provided each president’s net worth at its peak.
1st. George Washington
> Est. peak net worth: $708.5 million
> In office: 1789-1797
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2nd. John Adams
> Est. peak net worth: $28.7 million
> In office: 1797-1801
3rd. Thomas Jefferson
> Est. peak net worth: $241.7 million
> In office: 1801-1809
4th. James Madison
> Est. peak net worth: $136.7 million
> In office: 1809-1817
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5th. James Monroe
> Est. peak net worth: $31 million
> In office: 1817-1825
6th. John Quincy Adams
> Est. peak net worth: $27.1 million
> In office: 1825-1829
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7th. Andrew Jackson
> Est. peak net worth: $160.1 million
> In office: 1829-1837
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8th. Martin Van Buren
> Est. peak net worth: $34.2 million
> In office: 1837-1841
9th. William Henry Harrison
> Est. peak net worth: $7.1 million
> In office: March – April 1841
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10th. John Tyler
> Est. peak net worth: $69.6 million
> In office: 1841-1845
11th. James Knox Polk
> Est. peak net worth: $13.0 million
> In office: 1845-1849
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12th. Zachary Taylor
> Est. peak net worth: $8.2 million
> In office: 1849-1850
13th. Millard Fillmore
> Est. peak net worth: $4.7 million
> In office: 1850-1853
14th. Franklin Pierce
> Est. peak net worth: $2.4 million
> In office: 1853-1857
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15th. James Buchanan
> Est. peak net worth: less than $1 million
> In office: 1857-1861
16th. Abraham Lincoln
> Est. peak net worth: less than $1 million
> In office: 1861-1865
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17th. Andrew Johnson
> Est. peak net worth: less than $1 million
> In office: 1865-1869
18th. Ulysses Simpson Grant
> Est. peak net worth: less than $1 million
> In office: 1869-1877
19th. Rutherford Birchard Hayes
> Est. peak net worth: $3.5 million
> In office: 1877-1881
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20th. James Abram Garfield
> Est. peak net worth: less than $1 million
> In office: 1881-1881
21st. Chester Alan Arthur
> Est. peak net worth: less than $1 million
> In office: 1881-1885
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22nd, 24th. Grover Cleveland
> Est. peak net worth: $33.1 million
> In office: 1885-1889, 1893-1897
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23rd. Benjamin Harrison
> Est. peak net worth: $7.1 million
> In office: 1889-1893
25th. William McKinley
> Est. peak net worth: $1 million
> In office: 1897-1901
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26th. Theodore Roosevelt
> Est. peak net worth: $168.6 million
> In office: 1901-1909
27th. William Howard Taft
> Est. peak net worth: $3.6 million
> In office: 1909-1913
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28th. Woodrow Wilson
> Est. peak net worth: less than $1 million
> In office: 1913-1921
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29th. Warren Gamaliel Harding
> Est. peak net worth: $1 million
> In office: 1921-1923
30th. Calvin Coolidge
> Est. peak net worth: less than $1 million
> In office: 1923-1929
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31st. Herbert Clark Hoover
> Est. peak net worth: $100.1 million
> In office: 1929-1933
32nd. Franklin Delano Roosevelt
> Est. peak net worth: $80.6 million
> In office: 1933-1945
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33rd. Harry S. Truman
> Est. peak net worth: less than $1 million
> In office: 1945-1953
34th. Dwight David Eisenhower
> Est. peak net worth: $10.6 million
> In office: 1953-1961
35th. John Fitzgerald Kennedy
> Est. peak net worth: $1.3 billion
> In office: 1961-1963
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36th. Lyndon Baines Johnson
> Est. peak net worth: $131.9 million
> In office: 1963-1969
37th. Richard Milhous Nixon
> Est. peak net worth: $20.1 million
> In office: 1969-1974
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38th. Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr.
> Est. peak net worth: $9.5 million
> In office: 1974-1977
39th. James Earl Carter
> Est. peak net worth: $9.5 million
> In office: 1977-1981
40th. Ronald Wilson Reagan
> Est. peak net worth: $16.6 million
> In office: 1981-1989
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41st. George Herbert Walker Bush
> Est. peak net worth: $30.8 million
> In office: 1989-1993
42nd. William Jefferson Clinton
> Est. peak net worth: $285.8 million
> In office: 1993-2001
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43rd. George W. Bush
> Est. peak net worth: $46.1 million
> In office: 2001-2008
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44th. Barack Hussein Obama
> Est. peak net worth: $80 million
> In office: 2008-2017
45th. Donald John Trump
> Est. peak net worth: $3.7 billion
> In office: 2017- 2021
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46th. Joseph Robinette Biden Jr.
> Est. peak net worth: $9.1 million
> In office: 2021-
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