Congressional net worth estimates are based on 2023 financial disclosure reports downloaded from the House of Representatives. Asset and liability ranges were reviewed and aggregated to calculate an average net worth for each representative.
I followed the Open Secrets methodology for figuring net worth of congressional representatives.
Net worth was calculated by summing the filer's assets and then subtracting any listed liabilities. Filers report the amount of each of their assets, transactions and liabilities as falling within one of several ranges. The minimum possible values for each asset were added together as were the maximum possible values. Likewise, minimum and maximum liability amounts were summed. The maximum debt figure was then subtracted from the minimum asset figure and the minimum debt figure was subtracted from the maximum asset figure. The resulting range represents the extremes of how much a filer could be worth, and his or her actual net worth should fall somewhere within that range.
An index score was calculated in an attempt to normalize and compare the net worth of congressional representatives relative to their constiuency. It is challenging to find data on the average or median networth of folks living in a congressional district. As a proxy I used median annual income of a congressional district. District-level median household income data comes from the U.S. Census Bureau. Thus the calculation for the index is:
(Congressional Net Worth − Constituent Median Income) ÷ Constituent Median Income
While it would be best to use the net worth of the constituency, such data is difficult to find. This was conducted as an exploratory exercise to see if any large discrepancies exist that would prompt future investigation.
The main question we are seeking to answer is: Can a representative that is 5 times, 10 times, or over 100 times more wealthy than their constituency understand the needs of their district?
Which yields additional questions such as:
The intent of this project is not to shame individuals. It's purpose is to provoke thought and encourage deeper questions about how wealth, representation, and policy intersect. Hopefully it inspires you to consider such questions the next time you head to the ballot box.