Kristi Noem Net Worth 2026: Ranch Roots, Book Deals and Life After DHS

Kristi Noem’s net worth is about $5 million, according to Forbes, which published its estimate on May 31, 2025, after reviewing property records and her federal financial filings. The figure includes assets she shares with her husband, Bryon Noem. We could not find a newer Forbes estimate as of October 2026.

Kristi Noem: quick facts

Net worth

$5 Million

Source of wealth

Insurance agency stake, ranchland, pensions, books

Profession

Politician, former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, rancher, author

Nationality

American

Place of birth

Watertown, South Dakota, United States

Date of birth

November 30, 1971 (age 54)

Most of that wealth does not come from her government salaries. The biggest piece is Noem Insurance, an agency run by her husband, which Forbes valued at about $2 million after debt. The couple’s home and roughly 200 acres of ranchland in Castlewood, South Dakota, add about $1.1 million. Pensions, investments, cash, livestock and two book deals make up much of the rest.

2026 has brought big changes. Noem served as Secretary of Homeland Security from January 2025 until March 2026, then became a special envoy and later a senior advisor at the State Department. In late September 2026 she filed for divorce, which could change how the couple’s shared assets are split. For more profiles of public officials, see our list of politicians’ net worth.

Kristi Noem at a glance

• Net worth: about $5 million (Forbes, May 2025; includes assets shared with her husband)
• Born: November 30, 1971, in Watertown, South Dakota
• Profession: politician, rancher, author
• Offices held: South Dakota House (2007–2011), U.S. House (2011–2019), Governor of South Dakota (2019–2025), U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security (2025–2026)
• Current role: senior advisor at the U.S. State Department (as of October 2026)
• Biggest payday: a $139,750 advance for her 2024 book No Going Back, according to her federal disclosure
• Main assets: a stake in her husband’s insurance agency, a home and ranchland in Castlewood, pensions and investment accounts
• Spouse: Bryon Noem (married 1992); Noem filed for divorce in September 2026
• Children: three

Her net worth by year is charted at the end of this article.

Where Kristi Noem’s money comes from

Source	Details	Estimate
Noem Insurance	Insurance agency in Bryant, South Dakota, run by Bryon Noem	About $2 million after debt (Forbes, 2025); disclosed at $1 million to $5 million
Home and ranchland	House and about 200 acres in Castlewood, South Dakota	About $1.1 million before a mortgage of roughly $200,000 (Forbes)
Car wash	Business co-owned by Bryon Noem	His share about $300,000 after debt (Forbes)
Pensions	Congressional pension plus state pension rights	Congressional pension valued at about $140,000 (Forbes)
Investments and cash	Mutual funds, index funds, ETFs, retirement plans and bank accounts	Funds disclosed at $174,000 to $560,000; cash up to about $265,000
Books	Not My First Rodeo (2022) and No Going Back (2024)	Advances of about $40,000 and $139,750
Farming	Livestock, equipment and pasture rent	Livestock and equipment up to $100,000
Public salaries	Legislature, Congress, governor’s office, Cabinet	From about $12,000 to more than $200,000 a year

Salary history

Noem has spent almost two decades on a public payroll. Her pay rose with each office, but even her best-paid government job has been a modest share of her household’s assets.

Role	Years	Annual salary
South Dakota state representative	2007–2011	About $12,000 (part-time; Forbes)
U.S. Representative, South Dakota at-large	2011–2019	$174,000
Governor of South Dakota	2019–2025	About $113,000 to $130,000 (raise to $130,000 took effect July 1, 2023)
Secretary of Homeland Security	2025–2026	Executive Schedule Level I: $250,600 (2025), $253,100 (2026); see note below
Special envoy, then State Department senior advisor	2026–present	Not publicly reported

Cabinet secretaries are paid at Level I of the federal Executive Schedule. The official Level I rate was $250,600 in 2025 and $253,100 in 2026. However, Congress has repeatedly extended a pay freeze for senior political appointees, and Office of Personnel Management guidance lists a lower frozen payable rate for Level I. Published reports of Noem’s actual Cabinet pay range from about $235,100 to $250,600, so her exact take-home salary is unclear.

Other income on her disclosures

• Insurance business: Forbes found that Noem’s disclosed income from her husband’s agency was $50,000 to $100,000 in 2014, then rose to the $100,000 to $1 million range in 2015 and stayed there.
• Ethanol investment: South Dakota Searchlight reported dividends of $25,006 to $70,000 from Granite Falls Energy between 2010 and early 2019.
• Pasture rent: her 2023 disclosure listed cash rent from pastureland as income.
• Book royalties: both of her books are listed as income sources.

Early life

Kristi Lynn Arnold was born on November 30, 1971, in Watertown, South Dakota, to Ron and Corinne Arnold. She grew up on the family’s farm and ranch near Hazel, in eastern South Dakota, with her siblings.

She enrolled at Northern State University in 1990. In March 1994 her father was killed in a grain bin accident, and she left college to help run the family operation. Her first child, Kassidy, was born weeks later.

She married Bryon Noem in 1992. She returned to school years later, taking classes at several colleges, and earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from South Dakota State University in 2012 while she was serving in Congress.

The family ranch and Racota Valley

After her father’s death, Noem helped expand the family business. She added a hunting lodge and restaurant to the property, and her siblings moved back to help grow the operation. The family farm and hunting business near Hazel became known as Racota Valley Ranch, a family partnership.

Noem once owned part of the ranch, but her office said in 2021 that she had had no financial interest in Racota Valley “for years.” Her office also said the ranch had rented 22 acres of farmland she owned for $2,200 a year, a lease that ended on January 1, 2021.

In March 2021, the Associated Press reported that Racota Valley Ranch Partnership received a $500,000 state COVID-19 relief grant, and that a water management company run by her brothers received just over $100,000. The AP found no sign that Noem played a role in awarding the money. Her office said eligibility was set by the Legislature and the program was run by an outside consultant.

Today, the farm assets on Noem’s own disclosures are smaller: livestock and equipment worth up to $100,000, plus pastureland around her Castlewood home.

Career in the South Dakota Legislature

Noem won a seat in the South Dakota House of Representatives in 2006 and was re-elected in 2008. In her second term she served as assistant majority leader.

She was the prime sponsor of 11 bills that became law, including property tax changes and two gun-rights measures. The job was part-time and paid about $12,000 a year, according to Forbes.

U.S. House of Representatives (2011–2019)

In 2010, Noem defeated incumbent Democrat Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, 48.1% to 45.9%, to win South Dakota’s single at-large House seat. She was re-elected in 2012, 2014 and 2016, each time by a wider margin.

As a freshman she was elected as a liaison between new members and House Republican leadership. She later served on the House Armed Services Committee from 2013 to 2015.

Congress paid her $174,000 a year for eight years, about $1.4 million in total before taxes. Her House service also earned her a congressional pension, which Forbes valued at about $140,000. OpenSecrets estimated her net worth at about $2.3 million in 2017, using the value ranges in her House disclosures.

Governor of South Dakota (2019–2025)

Noem was elected governor in 2018, beating Democrat Billie Sutton about 51% to 48%. She became the first woman to serve as South Dakota’s governor. She won a second term in 2022 with about 62% of the vote against Democrat Jamie Smith.

The governor’s salary was far below what she had earned in Congress. Forbes put it at about $113,000. In 2021 she signed a bill that raised the governor’s pay to $130,000, effective July 1, 2023.

During her time as governor she also had a national profile, with appearances at conservative events and on cable news. She published both of her books while in office. She resigned as governor on January 25, 2025, the day the Senate confirmed her to the Cabinet.

Secretary of Homeland Security (2025–2026)

President Donald Trump nominated Noem as Secretary of Homeland Security in November 2024. The Senate confirmed her on January 25, 2025, by a vote of 59–34, and she was sworn in the same day as the department’s eighth secretary.

Before taking office she signed an ethics agreement. In it she agreed to resign as governor and to divest from Ashwood Strategies LLC, a company she owned.

In early March 2026 she testified before the Senate and House Judiciary Committees. Lawmakers had raised questions about department spending, including a $220 million advertising campaign. On March 5, 2026, Trump announced that Sen. Markwayne Mullin would replace her and that Noem would become Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas, a new Western Hemisphere security coalition. Several news outlets described the change as a firing. Mullin was sworn in as secretary on March 24, 2026.

2026: Special envoy and State Department role

Noem served as special envoy starting in March 2026 and took part in Shield of the Americas meetings at the United Nations General Assembly in September. On October 16, 2026, the State Department said the special envoy role “was always a six-month appointment.” A department official said her envoy status had expired in September.

She remains at the State Department as a senior advisor to Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau and is still involved with the Shield of the Americas. Her salary in these roles has not been publicly reported.

Book deals and other ventures

Noem has written two books, both for imprints of Hachette Book Group. Her federal disclosures, as reported by several outlets, list the advances below.

Book	Year	Reported advance
Not My First Rodeo: Lessons from the Heartland	2022	About $40,000
No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward	2024	$139,750

The second advance was slightly more than her yearly salary as governor at the time. Forbes reported that Not My First Rodeo sold about 700 print copies, while No Going Back sold more than 36,000. No Going Back drew wide attention before its release in 2024 for a passage in which she described putting down a hunting dog on her farm.

Ashwood Strategies

Noem set up Ashwood Strategies LLC in Delaware in 2023. ProPublica reported that a nonprofit group, American Resolve, paid the company $80,000 that year, described in the group’s tax filings as a 10% fee on $800,000 she raised for it. ProPublica reported the payment was not itemized on her disclosures. Her lawyer said she “fully complied with the letter and the spirit of the law” and that the Office of Government Ethics had reviewed and cleared the information. She agreed to divest the company as part of her ethics agreement.

Speaking

Noem has been a frequent speaker at political conferences and events. We found no public reporting of significant paid speaking fees on her disclosures, so speaking does not appear to be a major source of her wealth.

Real estate

Noem’s property holdings are concentrated in eastern South Dakota and are modest compared with many national politicians. While governor, she reportedly kept her home near the family farm while also using the governor’s residence in Pierre.

Property	Year	Reported price or value
31-acre plot, Castlewood, South Dakota	2006	Bought for $7,500
About 170 acres of neighboring pastureland, Castlewood	2008 and 2010	Price not reported
Castlewood home and roughly 200 acres combined	2025 valuation	About $1.1 million (Forbes)
Office building in Bryant housing Noem Insurance	N/A	Value not reported

Her disclosure lists a 15-year mortgage held jointly with her husband, in the $100,001 to $250,000 range, at an interest rate of 1.875%. Forbes put the mortgage at about $200,000. Her husband’s business holdings also carry commercial property and business loans, which reduce the value of those stakes.

Personal life

Noem married Bryon Noem in 1992. The couple have three children and several grandchildren. Forbes reported that the couple also made a loan to their daughter’s yoga studio.

In late September 2026, Noem filed for divorce in Hamlin County, South Dakota, citing irreconcilable differences, after more than 34 years of marriage. Under South Dakota law, both spouses are subject to a temporary restraining order on their assets while the case is pending. No details about how property will be divided have been made public.

That matters for her net worth. Forbes’ $5 million figure counts assets the couple share, and the largest single asset, the insurance agency, is run by Bryon Noem. Her individual net worth after a divorce settlement could be noticeably lower.

How Kristi Noem compares

Person	Net worth	Main source of wealth
Kristi Noem	About $5 million	Husband’s insurance agency, land, pensions
Joe Biden	About $10 million	Books, speeches, Delaware real estate
Markwayne Mullin	Assets disclosed at $29 million to $97 million (2024)	Plumbing business, ranch, real estate
Donald Trump	About $6.8 billion	Real estate, golf, media and crypto ventures

Figures: Noem, Forbes (May 2025); Biden, Forbes (June 2024); Mullin, asset ranges from 2024 financial disclosures as reported by the New York Times (assets only, not net worth); Trump, Forbes real-time estimate (October 2026).

Among Cabinet-level officials, Noem is far from the wealthiest. Her fortune is closer to that of a long-serving member of Congress than to the business figures who filled many senior posts. See more on the net worth hub.

Frequently asked questions

How much is Kristi Noem worth?

About $5 million, according to a Forbes estimate published in May 2025. The figure includes assets she shares with her husband.

Is Kristi Noem still Secretary of Homeland Security?

No. Trump replaced her in March 2026, and Markwayne Mullin was sworn in on March 24, 2026. As of October 2026 she is a senior advisor at the State Department.

How much did Kristi Noem make as DHS Secretary?

Cabinet secretaries are paid at Executive Schedule Level I, officially $250,600 in 2025 and $253,100 in 2026. A pay freeze for senior political appointees may have set her actual pay lower, and reported figures vary.

How much were Kristi Noem’s book advances?

Her disclosures show about $40,000 for Not My First Rodeo (2022) and $139,750 for No Going Back (2024).

Does Kristi Noem own Racota Valley Ranch?

Racota Valley Ranch is her family’s partnership near Hazel, South Dakota. She once held part of it, but her office said in 2021 that she had had no financial interest in it for years.

What is Kristi Noem’s biggest asset?

Her share of Noem Insurance, the agency run by her husband, which Forbes valued at about $2 million after debt. Her husband disputed that valuation.

Sources: Forbes (May 2025 net worth analysis), federal financial disclosures (OGE 278e) as reported by Newsweek, TheStreet and HollywoodLife, OpenSecrets (2017), Associated Press, ProPublica via the Washington Examiner, South Dakota Searchlight, KOTA, Office of Personnel Management, the Spokesman-Review, ABC News, NBC News, Wikipedia. All net worth figures are estimates.