The very rich had a banner year in 2006. The number of U.S. households with a net worth of $5 million or more, not including primary residence (NIPR), rose to a record 1.14 million in 2006 - surpassing 1 million for the first time ever, according to a new report from Spectrem Group, "Affluent Market Insights 2007".

This represents a 23% increase from 930,000 in 2005, and a quadrupling from 250,000 Ultra High Net Worth households in 1996.

Millionaire households, those with a net worth of $1 million or more (NIPR), grew to 9 million in 2006, an 8% increase from 8.3 million the year before. Affluent households, defined as having $500,000 or more of net worth (NIPR), reached 15.3 million last year, an increase of 9% from 14 million in 2005.

"The past few years have been nothing short of astounding for wealthy Americans. We now have more than 15 million affluent households in the United States, 9 million households worth $1 million or more and - for the first time ever - more than 1 million Ultra High Net Worth households worth $5 million or more. The Ultra High Net Worth households saw the
strongest growth of all affluent segments in 2006, increasing by 23% to a record 1.14 million. This represents a quadrupling of their number in just 10 years," said Catherine S. McBreen, Managing Director of Spectrem Group.