3 days ago
Here's How Much Kristi Noem Is Worth
Kristi Noem testified before a House committee in May about the Department of Homeland Security's budget Noem made headlines last month when a thief snatched her purse inside a Washington, D.C., restaurant and made off with $3,000 in cash, prompting a question: Exactly how much money does the homeland security secretary have? About $5 million, Forbes estimates, after analyzing property records and financial filings.
The root of the fortune begins 1,200 miles away from the nation's capital, in eastern South Dakota, where waves of grain fill the landscape and houses pop up every once in a while. The family farm where Noem grew up sits outside of Hazel (population: 132), surrounded by cropland. Her current home lies in Castlewood (population: 698) on a 200-acre plot of ranchland. And in the tiny town of Bryant (population: 471) lies an unassuming, single-story office building that serves as the key to the Noem family's finances, housing her husband's Noem Insurance, which has generated $1.1 million in salary and profits for him over the past two years selling insurance policies on homes, cars, farms and lives.
Bryon Noem, Kristi's husband, purchased the agency from a South Dakota bank in 2010. The cash flow seems to have taken off starting around 2015, when, on Noem's disclosures filed while she served in Congress, she reported that the income jumped from a range of $50,000-$100,000 in 2014 to $100,000-$1 million the following year, never falling back again. Today, Forbes estimates that, if Bryon were to sell his agency, he might get $2 million for it after debt. That makes it the single biggest chunk of the Trump Cabinet member's personal portfolio.
Other major assets include a car wash co-owned by Bryon, their home and land, and an eclectic mix of Noem's pensions, multiple cash and investment accounts, livestock and farming equipment and a loan to their 28-year-old daughter's yoga studio. It all adds up to an estimated $5 million in wealth.
The Department of Homeland Security did not return requests for comment. Reached by phone, Bryon disputed Forbes' valuation of Noem Insurance, but declined to answer further questions or elaborate.
Born in 1971 to farmer-ranchers Ron and Corrine Arnold in Watertown, South Dakota, Kristi Noem raised animals during her childhood—including, as she recounted in an autobiography, raccoons, parakeets, a goat, a sheep, a miniature horse and 'a small herd' of between 20 and 30 cats. She married Bryon, whom she met in high school, in 1992. Tragedy struck in 1994 when, while Noem was in college and eight months pregnant, her father died in a farming accident. She stopped her classes to help keep the farm running. Meanwhile, she built a family with Bryon, adding three kids in a decade.
They ran a hunting lodge attached to the farm, until Bryon began managing Bryant State Bank's insurance business in 2003. Three years later, the pair bought a 31-acre plot in Castlewood, South Dakota for $7,500, according to assessor records. There, they constructed the home they still live in today and, in 2008 and 2010, also purchased roughly 170 acres of neighboring plots to use as pastureland for grazing animals. Forbes estimates that the home and land together are worth about $1.1 million, before factoring in a roughly $200,000 mortgage against the house.
The same year Noem moved to Castlewood, she won a seat in the South Dakota statehouse. 'I figured we needed someone in the legislature who was still active in agriculture and business,' Noem wrote in her first book. The part-time gig came with a salary of $12,000. Pierre, the state capital, was three hours away, but Noem lived with a family friend while in town for her first forty-day session. She befriended other Republicans in leadership, and, after winning another term in 2008, became assistant majority leader.
In 2010, both Kristi and Bryon got promotions. He bought the insurance agency he managed, spinning it into Noem Insurance. She won South Dakota's only seat in the House of Representatives, beating back a speeding ticket scandal—she'd reportedly racked up almost two dozen over the years and hadn't paid all of them on time, leading to two arrest warrants—and ousting a Blue Dog Democrat in the Tea Party wave.
Noem's brothers bought her out of her share of the farm and she headed off to Washington, where her new job came with a salary of $174,000. She served as a liaison between House Republican leadership and the sizable class of new GOP members, carved out a reputation for trying to protect federal farm subsidies and ultimately spent four terms in Congress, gaining a pension Forbes estimates is worth about $140,000 today. She also finally finished college while in office thanks to online classes, earning a political science degree from South Dakota State University in 2011.
Noem, whose family had been impacted by the estate tax after her father's death, sought to repeal it while in Congress and supported the 2017 GOP tax bill that lowered it.
AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
Noem's political ascent continued in 2018, when she won South Dakota's gubernatorial race, reducing her annual pay to $113,000. But the office helped build her national brand, and Noem soon began traveling widely to conservative events. A recent investigation by the Associated Press found that, while governor, taxpayers covered over $150,000 in travel expenses, mostly security costs, unrelated to her work as South Dakota's chief executive.
While in office, Noem wrote two memoirs. 'Not My First Rodeo' came out in 2022 and flopped, selling around 700 print copies, according to Circana Bookscan, an industry data service. The second, 'No Going Back,' hit shelves in 2024 and attracted controversy for a now-infamous anecdote in which she describes killing a rambunctious 14-month-old dog after a pheasant hunting trip. With Noem reportedly under consideration for the VP slot on Trump's 2024 ticket at the time, she sold over 36,000 copies.
Bryon also launched a new venture of his own during this time, buying a plot of land next to a Pierre Walmart in 2021 with a partner and building a car-wash on it; Forbes estimates that his share of the business is worth around $300,000 after debt.
Though he passed her over for vice president, Trump—no stranger to scandal—brought Noem on board in his administration. As Homeland Security secretary, she draws a salary of $235,100. She also has a higher profile and a bigger budget than ever. DHS spent $140 billion last year, roughly 20 times South Dakota's state budget. On top of that, the Republican tax-and-spending bill moving through Congress now would, per a New York Times analysis, give the department an additional $138 billion over 10 years for immigration enforcement and border security measures, partially offset by $67 billion in revenue from higher immigration fees.
But she hasn't forgotten where she came from. In her first speech to DHS employees after being sworn in, Noem remembered building a fence with her father at age 10, noting that he would expect her to have tools ready for him before he needed them so he could work quickly. 'That is what our job is here, as well, at the Department of Homeland Security,' she told assembled staff. 'We prepare ahead, and think three steps ahead, so that people have what they need before they need it.'
