Name: Susan Margaret Collins
Age: 73
Birthday: December 7, 1952
Born: Caribou, Maine, USA
Net Worth: Approximately $7 million
Fun Fact: One of her first jobs was picking potatoes for a local farmer in Aroostook County.
Susan Collins is the senior United States Senator from Maine and one of the longest-serving women in the history of the U.S. Senate. First elected in 1996, the Republican lawmaker built a national reputation as a centrist dealmaker — and, increasingly, as a member of the congressional millionaires' club. While her base Senate salary is a comfortable $174,000 a year, the real engine behind Susan Collins' net worth is a household portfolio of stocks, bonds, and investment income that has surged in value over the past decade. Financial trackers now place her fortune at roughly $7 million, and her federal disclosures suggest the figure could run even higher.
From Caribou Potato Fields to the U.S. Senate
Susan Margaret Collins was born on December 7, 1952, in Caribou, Maine, in the heart of Aroostook County's potato country. Her upbringing was firmly working-class: one of her first jobs was picking potatoes for a local farmer, and she also worked at the Caribou Public Library reading to children. After graduating from Caribou High School in 1971, she went on to earn a degree from St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York.
Her path to Washington began in 1975, when she took a job as a staff assistant for Senator William Cohen of Maine. She later rose to become staff director of the Oversight of Government Management Subcommittee, learning the inner workings of Congress from the inside. That experience paid off in 1996, when Collins was elected to the Senate to succeed her old boss. She has won re-election every six years since, and in 2020 she made history as the first Republican woman to win a fifth term. Today she chairs the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee — a perch that gives her outsized influence over federal spending — and ranks as the seventh-most senior member of the Senate.
How Susan Collins Built Her Fortune
Collins' wealth does not come primarily from her government paycheck. The $174,000 annual Senate salary is a solid income, but it is her household's investments that have transformed her into a multimillionaire. According to an analysis of her 2025 financial disclosure, Collins held up to $4.8 million in corporate stocks and bonds, spread across more than 90 disclosed assets.
A significant share of the couple's money sits with her husband, Thomas A. Daffron, a former lobbyist and Republican consultant whom she married on August 11, 2012. Daffron, once chief of staff to Senator William Cohen, brought substantial assets into the marriage. Combined, the couple's disclosures place their total household assets between roughly $4.2 million and $10.1 million.
A Look at the Numbers: Her Net Worth Over the Years
Collins' financial trajectory reads like a case study in how a long career in Washington can compound wealth. When she was first elected, her net worth was modest. By 2011, entering her second decade in the Senate, her fortune was still in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Then the picture changed dramatically.
OpenSecrets pegged her estimated net worth at about $3.66 million in 2016 and roughly $4.12 million in 2018. By 2024, her minimum disclosed net worth had reached $3.35 million. In 2025, trackers placed the figure at around $6.6 million, and by mid-2026 both Congressstock and Quiver Quantitative estimated her worth at roughly $7 million. Her latest disclosures, filed in May 2026, listed total assets between $4.2 million and $10.1 million across 93 separate assets. Politico calculated the jump as a roughly 2,000% increase since 2011 — growth that has made her a target for political opponents.
Where the Money Sits: Her Top Holdings
The senator's portfolio reads like a who's who of blue-chip American companies. Her disclosures have included shares of Amazon, Nvidia, UnitedHealth, Visa, and Apple, among others. Financial tracker Quiver Quantitative estimates she has roughly $4.2 million invested in publicly traded assets and reported that she made an estimated $104,000 in the stock market in a single month in mid-2026. Forbes separately found that Collins has between $300,000 and $800,000 invested in companies tied to the booming AI data-center buildout.
Defense stocks are another notable theme. Her husband's holdings have included Boeing and RTX (formerly Raytheon), as well as contractor Amphenol, with individual positions ranging from tens of thousands of dollars to roughly $100,000. Those defense-industry ties have drawn scrutiny from critics and political rivals during her campaigns.
A Wealth Gap on the Ballot: The 2026 Race Against Troy Jackson
Collins sought a sixth term in 2026, facing Democratic nominee Troy D. Jackson, a logger and former Maine Senate president. The wealth gap between the two candidates was stark. According to financial disclosures reported in October 2026, Jackson and his spouse reported between $147,000 and $430,000 in assets — a fraction of Collins' multimillion-dollar portfolio — and no liabilities over $10,000. Collins, by contrast, reported at least $174,000 in Senate salary alone, plus a portfolio estimated at around $7.1 million by Congressstock.
That disparity became a defining issue in the campaign. In November 2026, Jackson defeated Collins, ending her three-decade tenure in the Senate. Collins' opponents argued her wealth illustrated how disconnected she had become from working Mainers, while her supporters countered that it reflected decades of disciplined saving and investing, not wrongdoing.
What's Next for Susan Collins' Finances
Whatever comes next, Collins' financial future looks secure. Her diversified portfolio of stocks and bonds generates passive investment income that far exceeds what most Maine households earn in a full year of work. Campaign finance watchdogs have also noted that she has accepted more than $700,000 from private equity interests over the course of her career — a reminder of the deep ties between her political influence and the financial sector.
The Bottom Line
Susan Collins' net worth today stands at approximately $7 million, with her household's disclosed assets ranging as high as $10.1 million. Built over three decades in the Senate through a six-figure salary, a well-timed marriage to a former lobbyist, and a lucrative portfolio of stocks in companies like Amazon, Nvidia, and UnitedHealth, her fortune is a striking contrast to the working-class roots she proudly describes. For a senator who began her working life picking potatoes in Aroostook County, the climb to multimillionaire status is a story of both personal discipline and the remarkable financial advantages that come with a seat in the United States Senate.
