Unequal gains paint a picture of deepening economic disparity
Recent data from the Federal Reserve reveals that, as of the end of 2024, the wealthiest half of American families owned approximately 97.5% of the nation’s wealth, leaving the bottom half with a mere 2.5%.
During former President Joe Biden’s tenure, the lower 50% experienced a slight increase in their share, rising from 2.2% to 2.5%. This group, encompassing 66.6 million households, collectively owned about $4 trillion in net wealth by the end of 2024, marking a $1.25 trillion increase over four years.
In contrast, the top 0.1% - approximately 133,000 households - saw their net wealth surge by over $6 trillion during the same period. Bloomberg reported that this growth was largely driven by significant gains in corporate equities and mutual fund shares. Notably, this elite group possesses around 25% of all US equities, which constitute nearly half of their wealth; an additional one-fifth is invested in private business holdings.
The share of total wealth held by the top 0.1% reached a record 13.8% at the end of 2024, up from 13% in 2020. Conversely, the bottom half’s share peaked at 2.7% in mid-2022 before settling back to 2.5%. Meanwhile, households in the 90th to 99th percentiles experienced a 2.4 percentage point decline in their share over the four-year span.
Debt patterns also varied across wealth segments. The top 1% managed to reduce their net mortgage debt, whereas families lower on the wealth spectrum accumulated additional liabilities, including approximately $800 billion in high-interest consumer credit over the four years.
Age-wise, older Americans saw a notable increase in wealth. Individuals aged 70 and above expanded their share by 3.8 percentage points since 2020, holding 31.4% of the nation’s wealth by the end of 2024. This demographic also owned 38.3% of corporate equities, up from 32.9% in late 2020. The aging Baby Boomer generation, born before 1965, accounts for more than half of US real estate wealth.
These findings underscore the persistent and growing disparities in wealth distribution across different economic and demographic groups in the United States.
Highly concentrated at the top
Wealth, which includes assets like homes and stocks minus debts, is highly concentrated at the top. In 2015, the top 10% of households in high-income countries held over half of all wealth, with US households in this group owning 79%, according to a report from Peterson Institute for International Economics. Wealth inequality has widened, especially in the United States and the United Kingdom after the global financial crisis.
Since the late 1980s, the wealthiest Americans have saved and accumulated wealth at a faster rate than the average household. From 2001 to 2016, upper-income families saw a 33% median wealth increase, while middle-income families lost 20% and lower-income families lost 45%. Social mobility has declined, with fewer Americans surpassing their parents’ income. In 1950, 80% of children out-earned their parents by age 30, but for those born in 1980, the figure fell to 50%.
Income inequality has also surged. The top 1% earned 10% of US income in 1980, rising to 20% by 2017, surpassing the bottom half’s share.
In contrast, European trends have been less severe. Income gains for the top 1% have been more modest, and the bottom half continues to hold a larger share of total income.
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