First live data chart
What this chart shows
This chart uses Federal Reserve Distributional Financial Accounts data to show how household net worth is divided among different wealth groups over time.
The first version uses the Net worth column from the dfa-networth-shares.csv file.
Wealth share over time
Key takeaway
The chart shows that U.S. household net worth is heavily concentrated among the top wealth groups, while the bottom half of households holds only a small share of total net worth.
This makes wealth distribution different from income distribution. A household may earn income from work but still own very little wealth if most income is consumed by housing, debt, healthcare, transportation, and other basic costs.
Latest available quarter
Change over full period
This table compares the earliest available quarter in the file with the latest available quarter. The change is shown in percentage points of total household net worth.
Initial interpretation
The chart shows that U.S. household net worth is highly concentrated. The top wealth groups hold a much larger share of total household wealth than the bottom half of households.
The Next 9% and Next 40% groups also hold large shares of wealth, but the Bottom 50% holds only a small portion of total net worth across the full time period shown.
This is one reason wealth reform is different from income reform. Income measures how money flows to households during a period of time, while net worth measures accumulated ownership after assets and debts are counted.
Next analysis planned
The next version of this page should connect these wealth-share trends to specific reform questions, such as whether worker wealth accounts, housing reforms, or tax changes would meaningfully broaden ownership over time.
Source and method
This chart uses the Federal Reserve Distributional Financial Accounts raw data file named dfa-networth-shares.csv. The chart reads the Net worth column and displays the reported share of household net worth for each wealth group.
The categories shown are TopPt1, RemainingTop1, Next9, Next40, and Bottom50. The page also calculates a combined Top 1% line by adding TopPt1 and RemainingTop1 together.
This is an early test chart. The data file is stored on this website under the raw data folder, and the page reads it directly in the browser using JavaScript.
How to read the groups
| Category | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Top1Combined | Combined top 1 percent of households: TopPt1 plus RemainingTop1. |
| TopPt1 | Top 0.1 percent of households. |
| RemainingTop1 | The rest of the top 1 percent, excluding the top 0.1 percent. |
| Next9 | The next 9 percent of households. |
| Next40 | The next 40 percent of households. |
| Bottom50 | The bottom 50 percent of households. |