Bernie Sanders Net Worth 2017: How Much Does The Socialist Vermont Senator Make

Vermont Senator and former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders may not command the wealth that most of his fellow senators do, but he was responsible for running an immensely successful campaign that made his opponents “Feel the Bern.”

Despite losing to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the race for the Democratic nomination, he has been a strong critic of President Donald Trump and questioned his decisions, as well as his picks for the cabinet, repeatedly. Compared to Trump’s net worth, Sanders’ figures are a fraction but his net worth is still many times higher than that of any average American household.

“Yeah, look, I don’t want to get anybody very excited,” Sanders said at a Democratic debate in April, as he was pressed to release his tax returns. “They are very boring tax returns. No big money from speeches, no major investments. Unfortunately — unfortunately, I remain one of the poorer members of the United States Senate. And that's what that will show.”

According to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, Sanders was 81st on the list of richest senators, making him the 19th poorest member of the body. Despite this, the Motley Fool estimated his net worth to stand at around $800,000.

How did the “socialist” politician reach this figure?

Sanders, at the age of 39, won the election to become the mayor of Burlington, Vermont, earning about $33,700 per year, Politico reported. While serving as the mayor, he also recorded a folk album in 1987. After eight years in the mayor’s office, Sanders won a House of Representatives seat in 1990, and a hiked salary of about $96,000. The Vermont politician successfully ran for the Senate in 2006 — increasing his salary to $165,000.

According to Sanders’ July 2015 personal filing, his assets were reportedly valued between $194,026 and $741,000 in his wife Jane Sanders' name. Credit card debt between $25,002 and $65,000 was also listed in the filing. However, properties held by the couple — a condominium in Washington, D.C., and a home in Vermont — were not a part of the personal asset disclosure forms.

The Motley Fool added the estimated values of these properties to the median of listed assets and their after-tax estimate and took out the median of the debt to reach $1.65 million in assets for the couple. On halving the figure, Sanders’ net worth stood around $800,000.