The Rational Reminder Podcast · Thursday, September 24, 2026
Research by Owen Zidar indicates that the typical millionaire is more likely to be a 'Main Street' business owner than a 'Wall Street' financier. Only about 20% of top 0.1% income from private business owners comes from finance and real estate, with the majority derived from diverse industries like construction and healthcare, and present in towns across the country.
“Is the typical millionaire more Main Street or Wall Street? It's definitely more Main Street.”
“So we added up all top 0.1% income from these private business owners, and only about 20% comes from finance and real estate. And the majority come from every other industry. Construction, healthcare, you name it where we're mostly a service economy.”
“And another interesting thing is that it's in every town. So if you plot population, it's a pretty good job of predicting where you'll have a lot of the profits throughout the country.”