The Great Recession hit a lot of Americans very hard. But members of Congress largely skated through the terrible economic downturn, and many even came out ahead.

While the American median household net worth plummeted 39% from 2007 to 2010, the median estimated wealth of lawmakers increased 5% during the same period, according to The Washington Post.

For some, namely the richest one-third of Congress, their wealth expanded 14%.

Not all lawmakers made it out of the recession better off. About 20% (121 members) “appeared to be worse off in 2010 than they had been six years earlier, and 24 saw their reported wealth slide into negative territory,” The Washington Post reported.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

To Learn More:

Capitol Assets: Congress’s Wealthiest Mostly Shielded from Effects of Deep Recession (by Dan Keating, Scott Higham, Kimberly Kindy, and David S. Fallis, Washington Post)

Wealth Gap between Congress and Other Americans Widens to 9 to 1 (by Noel Brinkerhoff and David Wallechinsky, AllGov)

Richest Members of Congress Got Richer During Recession (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)