America is more prosperous than ever.
U.S. household net worth reached a new peak at the end of 2024. The unemployment rate has levitated just above record lows for three years. The overall debt that households are carrying compared with the assets they own is also near a record low.
But even a land of plenty has its shortcomings, influencing both perceptions and realities of how Americans are doing.
The U.S. economy remains deeply unequal, with vast gaps in wealth and financial security persisting even as inflation has ebbed and incomes have risen. And data designed to capture the overall population may be obscuring challenges experienced by a broad range of Americans, especially those in the bottom half of the wealth or income spectrum.
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$200
trillion
Total family wealth,
by wealth percentiles
175
Adjusted for inflation
in 2022 dollars
150
Top 10 percent
125
100
75
50
51st to 90th percentiles
25
Bottom 50 percent
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
2015
2020
$200
trillion
Total family wealth, by wealth percentiles
175
Adjusted for inflation in 2022 dollars
150
Top 10 percent
125
100
75
50
51st to 90th percentiles
25
Bottom 50 percent
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
2015
2020
The share of wealth held by families in the top 10 percent has reached 69 percent, while the share held by families in the bottom 50 percent is only 3 percent, according to the latest reading from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. (When future income claims from Social Security benefits are included, the bottom 50 percent hold 6 percent of total wealth.)
And while wealth has risen for the less wealthy half of the population in recent years, much of the uptick has been locked up in what financial analysts call “illiquid assets” — gains in home prices and stock portfolios — which are not easily translated into cash to pay for bills and expenses that are much higher than they were a few years ago.
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$50
trillion
Investments by
wealth percentiles
40
Corporate equities and mutual fund shares, adjusted for inflation in 2024 dollars
30
Top 10
percent
20
10
51st to 90th percentiles
Bottom 50 percent
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
2015
2020
2024
$50
trillion
Investments by wealth percentiles
40
Corporate equities and mutual fund shares,
adjusted for inflation in 2024 dollars
30
Top 10 percent
20
10
51st to 90th percentiles
Bottom 50 percent
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
2015
2020
2024
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Consumer sentiment
University of Michigan Index of
Consumer Sentiment by income terciles
120
Consumers’
optimism
or
pessimism
about the
economy
and their
financial
future.
110
100
90
80
70
60
50
3-month moving average
’90
’95
’00
’05
’10
’15
’20
’25
Consumer sentiment by income terciles
University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment
120
Consumers’
optimism
or
pessimism
about the economy and their financial future.
110
100
90
80
70
60
50
3-month moving average
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
2015
2020
2025
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Source: Economy - nytimes.com
