Noem, who often emphasizes her rough-and-tumble rural roots, can thank her husband’s insurance business for much of her money.
Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kylemullins/2025/05/31/how-rich-is-homeland-security-secretary-kristi-noem/
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00:00Today on Forbes, how rich is Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem?
00:07Kristi Noem made headlines in April 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?
00:20Forbes estimates about $5 million, this figure after analyzing property records and financial filings.
00:28The route 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.
00:39The family farm where Noem grew up sits outside of Hazel, population 132, surrounded by cropland.
00:47Her current home lies in Castlewood, population 698, on a 200-acre plot of ranch land.
00:53And 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.
01:16Brian Noem, Christie's husband, purchased the agency from a South Dakota bank in 2010.
01:22The cash flow seems to have taken off starting around 2015, when, on Noem's disclosures filed while she served in Congress,
01:29she reported that the income jumped from a range of $50,000 to $100,000 in 2014, to $100,000 to $1 million the following year, never falling back again.
01:40Today, Forbes estimates that, if Brian were to sell his agency, he might get $2 million for it after debt.
01:47That makes it the single biggest chunk of the Trump cabinet member's personal portfolio.
01:51Other major assets include a car wash co-owned by Brian, 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.
02:07The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment.
02:11Reached by phone, Brian Noem disputed Forbes' valuation of Noem Insurance, but declined to answer further questions or elaborate.
02:18Born in 1971 to farmer-ranchers in Watertown, South Dakota, Kristi Noem raised animals during her childhood.
02:27She later married Brian, whom she met in high school, in 1992.
02:31In 2006, the pair bought a 31-acre plot in Castlewood, South Dakota, for $7,500, according to Assessor Records.
02:39There, they constructed the home they still live in today and, in 2008 and 2010, also purchased about 170 acres of neighboring plots to use as pastureland for grazing animals.
02:51Forbes estimates that the home and land together are worth about $1.1 million, before factoring in a roughly $200,000 mortgage against the House.
03:00In 2010, Kristi Noem won South Dakota's only seat in the House of Representatives.
03:06She served as a liaison between House Republican leadership and the sizable class of new GOP members,
03:12carved out a reputation for trying to protect federal farm subsidies, and ultimately spent four terms in Congress,
03:18gaining a pension Forbes estimates is worth about $140,000 today.
03:22Noem's political assent continued in 2018, when she won South Dakota's gubernatorial race, reducing her annual pay to $113,000.
03:32But the office helped build her national brand, and Noem soon began traveling widely to conservative events.
03:39A recent investigation by the Associated Press found that, while governor, taxpayers covered over $150,000 in travel expenses,
03:47mostly security costs, unrelated to her work as South Dakota's chief executive.
03:52While in office, Noem wrote two memoirs.
03:56Not My First Rodeo came out in 2022 and flopped, selling around 700 print copies, according to Serkana BookScan, an industry data service.
04:05The second, No Going Back, hit shelves in 2024 and attracted controversy for a now-infamous anecdote
04:12in which she describes killing a rambunctious 14-month-old dog after a pheasant hunting trip.
04:17With Noem reportedly under consideration for the VP slot on Trump's 2024 ticket at the time, she sold over 36,000 copies.
04:26Though he passed over her for vice president, Trump, no stranger to scandal, brought Noem on board in his administration.
04:33As Homeland Security Secretary, she draws a salary of $235,100.
04:41For full coverage, check out Kyle Kahn Mullins' piece on Forbes.com.
