How to Find Someone's Net Worth From Public Records
This guide covers how to find someone's net worth from the public record: what a person owns that is registered somewhere, minus what they owe that is recorded somewhere. Public records show a large part of both sides and never show bank balances, so what you get is a documented partial picture, not a single number. This page shows where each piece is recorded, what stays private, and which U.S. Asset Records report puts it together.
Quick Answer
Net worth is what someone owns minus what they owe. To estimate it from public records, list the person's real estate, vehicles, vessels, aircraft and businesses, then subtract the mortgages, liens and judgments recorded against them. Bank and brokerage balances are not public. U.S. Asset Records assembles the record in the $195 Asset Profile Report, or, with the equity behind every asset, in the $595 Individual/Entity Asset Equity Analysis.
How do you find someone's net worth?
Net worth is assets minus liabilities, and public records show 2 parts of it: registered assets such as real estate, vehicles, aircraft and businesses, and recorded debts such as mortgages, liens and judgments. Bank balances and private loans stay private, so a public-record estimate is always partial.
Net Worth Snapshot
| Formula | What you own minus what you owe (Investor.gov) |
|---|---|
| Public: assets | Real estate, vehicles, vessels, aircraft, business interests |
| Public: debts | Mortgages, liens, judgments, UCC filings, bankruptcy filings |
| Not public | Bank and brokerage balances, retirement accounts, private loans |
| Federal officials | Public financial disclosure reports, on request from the Office of Government Ethics |
| Reports | $195 Asset Profile Report; $295 Creditor-Status Profile; $595 Individual/Entity Asset Equity Analysis |
| Subject contacted | Never |
Four Facts About Net Worth Records
- Investor.gov, from the Securities and Exchange Commission, describes a net worth statement as a list of what you own and what you owe, with liabilities subtracted from assets.
- The FAA aircraft registry can be searched by owner name, and under 49 U.S.C. 44114(b) private aircraft owners can ask that their name and address be withheld from broad public display.
- The Office of Government Ethics makes public financial disclosure reports of senior federal officials available, many on request after completing OGE Form 201.
- The Federal Trade Commission says the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act requires financial institutions to explain their information-sharing practices and to safeguard sensitive data, which is why account balances are not public records.
Pricing
| Report | Price | Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| Skip Trace | $95 | Locating the person first |
| Asset Profile Report | $195 | Real estate, vehicles, vessels, aircraft, businesses, UCC filings, liens, judgments and court records; available for any purpose |
| Creditor-Status Profile | $295 | For creditors with a permissible purpose: adds mortgage positions and equity estimates |
| Title Search & Asset Equity Analysis | $595 | Individual/Entity Asset Equity Analysis option: every asset found nationwide, with recorded liens and the equity in each property |
The $195, $295 and $595 reports are all delivered in 1 to 5 days, depending on the county and complexity. Flat fees, no contracts.
What public records show about someone's net worth
Each piece of a net worth statement that is public sits in a different registry. A complete search reads all of them under the person's name and every variation of it.
| Side | Record | Where it is kept |
|---|---|---|
| Own | Real estate and its assessed value | County recorder and county assessor |
| Own | Cars, trucks, motorcycles and RVs | State motor vehicle records |
| Own | Boats and documented vessels | State registrations and the Coast Guard |
| Own | Aircraft | FAA aircraft registry, searchable by owner name |
| Own | Companies, LLCs and officer positions | Secretary of State business filings |
| Owe | Mortgages and deeds of trust | County recorder |
| Owe | Judgment liens and tax liens | County recorder, state filing offices and courts |
| Owe | Secured business debt | UCC filings with the Secretary of State |
| Owe | Lawsuits and bankruptcy | State and federal courts |
The $195 Asset Profile Report covers every row: real estate in all 50 states with assessed values, mortgages and liens, vehicle, watercraft and aircraft registrations, business ownership interests, UCC filings, judgment and tax liens, and civil litigation and bankruptcy history.
What public records cannot tell you
Some of the largest items on most net worth statements are not recorded anywhere the public can read. The Federal Trade Commission explains that the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act requires financial institutions to safeguard sensitive customer data, so bank and brokerage balances do not appear in any public record, and our reports never include account numbers or balances. Retirement accounts, cash, private loans between people, and most personal property are missing for the same reason: nothing about them is filed with a government office.
That cuts both ways. An estimate built from public records can miss assets, which makes the person look poorer, and it can miss unrecorded debts, which makes them look richer. Read it as a documented picture of recorded assets and recorded debts. When the question is whether a judgment can be collected, that recorded picture is usually the part that matters; see how creditors find bank accounts for the court process that reaches the rest.
The net worth of federal officials
One group files its own disclosure. The Office of Government Ethics makes the public financial disclosure reports of senior executive branch officials available to the public. Reports for the highest positions, including Cabinet secretaries, are typically posted for download after the Senate receives them; many others are available by request after completing OGE Form 201. For anyone else, there is no disclosure form to request, and the public record is the source.
How to estimate someone's net worth yourself
- Search county property records under the person's name in every county where they have lived or done business, and note each parcel and its assessed value.
- Read the recorder's index for mortgages, liens and judgments against each parcel and against the name.
- Search the Secretary of State in each likely state for companies where the person is an owner, manager or officer, and for UCC filings.
- Search the FAA registry by name for aircraft, and state vessel records for boats.
- Check court records for lawsuits, judgments and bankruptcy filings.
- Subtract the recorded debts from the recorded assets, and write down what you could not see.
The hard parts are the counties you do not know to search, name variations, and assets held through an LLC or a trust. Our guide to finding someone's assets covers each registry in more depth, and free asset search lists what you can do at no cost.
Which report to order
- Asset Profile Report, $195. Available to anyone for any purpose. The assets and recorded debts in the tables above, across all 50 states, with analyst notes. Delivered in 1 to 5 days.
- Creditor-Status Profile, $295. For creditors, attorneys with active cases and fraud prevention, with a certified permissible purpose. Adds mortgage positions, equity estimates and property transfer analysis. Delivered in 1 to 5 days.
- Individual/Entity Asset Equity Analysis, $595. An option of the Title Search & Asset Equity Analysis that starts from the person or business and covers every property, vehicle, vessel, aircraft and business interest found nationwide, with recorded liens and the equity available in each property. Delivered in 1 to 5 days, depending on the county and complexity.
Every report is a records examination. None includes bank or brokerage balances, and the person you search is never contacted.
Sources opened for this page on October 21, 2026: Investor.gov on the net worth statement; the FAA aircraft registry inquiry page; the Office of Government Ethics public financial disclosure FAQ; and the Federal Trade Commission Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act page. More on the firm is on the about U.S. Asset Records page.
Order Your Report
Flat-fee pricing. No contracts, no retainer, no escrow account. Every report is delivered in 1 to 5 days, depending on the county and complexity, and includes answers to your questions at no charge.
Order the Asset Profile Report, $195Net Worth Questions
Can you look up someone's net worth for free?
Partly. County property, recorder, Secretary of State, FAA and court records can be searched under a name, often at little or no cost, and together they show recorded assets and recorded debts. Bank balances, retirement accounts and private loans are not in any public record.
Is someone's net worth public record?
No single record states it. Some of the pieces are public: real estate, vehicles, vessels, aircraft, business filings, mortgages, liens, judgments and bankruptcy filings. Senior federal officials also file public financial disclosure reports with the Office of Government Ethics.
Can I see someone's bank account balance?
No. Under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, financial institutions must safeguard customer data, and balances do not appear in public records. Our reports never include account numbers or balances.
How accurate is a net worth estimate from public records?
It is accurate about what is recorded and silent about what is not. Missing bank accounts make a person look poorer than they are; missing private debts make them look richer. Treat it as a documented picture of recorded assets and recorded debts.
Will the person know I searched for their net worth?
No. Every U.S. Asset Records report is a records examination, and the person you search is never contacted.
How much does a net worth search cost?
The Asset Profile Report is $195, the Creditor-Status Profile for creditors with a permissible purpose is $295, and the Individual/Entity Asset Equity Analysis, which adds the equity in each property, is $595. All are flat fees.
How can I find out what assets someone has?
Start with the public records that hold each kind of asset. The county assessor and recorder show real estate by owner name, with the mortgages and liens against it. The Secretary of State business search shows companies and the officers or managers named in their filings, though a listed officer is not necessarily an owner and what each state publishes about owners varies. Court records and PACER show judgments, liens and bankruptcy filings. None of these shows bank balances. The $195 Asset Profile Report searches them across all 50 states for any purpose, delivered in 1 to 5 days.
Related Guides
For each asset registry in depth, read how to find someone's assets. For what you can search at no cost, see free asset search. For assets held through companies and trusts, see hidden asset search, and for the equity behind a single property, the Title Search & Asset Equity Analysis.
See What Someone Owns and What They Owe
The $195 Asset Profile Report lists real estate, vehicles, vessels, aircraft, business interests, liens, judgments and court records across all 50 states, delivered in 1 to 5 days. For the equity behind every asset, choose the $595 Individual/Entity Asset Equity Analysis.
Order the Asset Profile Report, $195