In the first quarter of 2025, almost two-thirds percent of the total wealth in the United States was owned by the top 10 percent of earners. In comparison, the lowest 50 percent of earners only owned 2.5 percent of the total wealth. Income inequality in the U.S. Despite the idea that the United States is a country where hard work and pulling yourself up by your bootstraps will inevitably lead to success, this is often not the case. In 2023, 7.4 percent of U.S. households had an annual income under 15,000 U.S. dollars. With such a small percentage of people in the United States owning such a vast majority of the country’s wealth, the gap between the rich and poor in America remains stark. The top one percent The United States was the country with the most billionaires in the world in 2025. Elon Musk, with a net worth of 342 billion U.S. dollars, was among the richest people in the United States in 2025. Over the past 50 years, the CEO-to-worker compensation ratio has exploded, causing the gap between rich and poor to grow, with some economists theorizing that this gap is the largest it has been since right before the Great Depression.

In the first quarter of 2025, 51.4 percent of the total wealth in the United States was owned by members of the baby boomer generation. In comparison, millennials own around 10.3 percent of total wealth in the U.S. In terms of population distribution, there was almost an equal share of millennials and baby boomers in the United States in 2024.

Graph and download economic data for Net Worth Held by the Bottom 50% (1st to 50th Wealth Percentiles) (WFRBLB50107) from Q3 1989 to Q2 2025 about net worth, wealth, percentile, Net, and USA.

The Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) is normally a triennial cross-sectional survey of U.S. families. The survey data include information on families' balance sheets, pensions, income, and demographic characteristics.

In 2023, just over 50 percent of Americans had an annual household income that was less than 75,000 U.S. dollars. The median household income was 80,610 U.S. dollars in 2023. Income and wealth in the United States After the economic recession in 2009, income inequality in the U.S. is more prominent across many metropolitan areas. The Northeast region is regarded as one of the wealthiest in the country. Maryland, New Jersey, and Massachusetts were among the states with the highest median household income in 2020. In terms of income by race and ethnicity, the average income of Asian households was 94,903 U.S. dollars in 2020, while the median income for Black households was around half of that figure. What is the U.S. poverty threshold? The U.S. Census Bureau annually updates its list of poverty levels. Preliminary estimates show that the average poverty threshold for a family of four people was 26,500 U.S. dollars in 2021, which is around 100 U.S. dollars less than the previous year. There were an estimated 37.9 million people in poverty across the United States in 2021, which was around 11.6 percent of the population. Approximately 19.5 percent of those in poverty were Black, while 8.2 percent were white.

Asset Allocation of Top Wealth Owners: Proportion of Total Net Worth in Stocks, Bonds, and Retirement Accounts.

Distribution of household total income in constant 2020 dollars by household type (couple family, one-parent family, non-census family households) and characteristics of household members (number of earners and number of people in different age groups).

Average income of farm families by source and family total income group, unincorporated sector, (dollars unless otherwise noted) for Canada. Data available on an annual basis.

About this dataset

Context

The dataset presents a breakdown of households across various income brackets in United States, as reported by the U.S. Census Bureau. The Census Bureau classifies households into different categories, including total households, family households, and non-family households. Our analysis of U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey data for United States reveals how household income distribution varies among these categories. The dataset highlights the variation in number of households with income, offering valuable insights into the distribution of United States households based on income levels.

Key observations

• For Family Households: In United States, the majority of family households, representing 14.18%, earn $75,000 to $99,999, showcasing a substantial share of the community families falling within this income bracket. Conversely, the minority of family households, comprising 2.01%, have incomes falling $150,000 to $199,999, representing a smaller but still significant segment of the community.
• For Non-Family Households: In United States, the majority of non-family households, accounting for 10.55%, have income Less than $10,000, indicating that a substantial portion of non-family households falls within this income bracket. On the other hand, the minority of non-family households, comprising 3.26%, earn $150,000 to $199,999, representing a smaller, yet notable, portion of non-family households in the community.

Content

When available, the data consists of estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 2017-2021 5-Year Estimates.

Income Levels:

• Less than $10,000
• $10,000 to $14,999
• $15,000 to $19,999
• $20,000 to $24,999
• $25,000 to $29,999
• $30,000 to $34,999
• $35,000 to $39,999
• $40,000 to $44,999
• $45,000 to $49,999
• $50,000 to $59,999
• $60,000 to $74,999
• $75,000 to $99,999
• $125,000 to $149,999
• $150,000 to $199,999
• $200,000 or more

Variables / Data Columns

• Income Level: The income level represents the income brackets ranging from Less than $10,000 to $200,000 or more in United States (As mentioned above).
• All Households: Count of households for the specified income level
• % All Households: Percentage of households at the specified income level relative to the total households in United States
• Family Households: Count of family households for the specified income level
• % Family Households: Percentage of family households at the specified income level relative to the total family households in United States
• Non-Family Households: Count of non-family households for the specified income level
• % Non-Family Households: Percentage of non-family households at the specified income level relative to the total non-family households in United States

Good to know

Margin of Error

Data in the dataset are based on the estimates and are subject to sampling variability and thus a margin of error. Neilsberg Research recommends using caution when presening these estimates in your research.

Custom data

If you do need custom data for any of your research project, report or presentation, you can contact our research staff at research@neilsberg.com for a feasibility of a custom tabulation on a fee-for-service basis.

Inspiration

Neilsberg Research Team curates, analyze and publishes demographics and economic data from a variety of public and proprietary sources, each of which often includes multiple surveys and programs. The large majority of Neilsberg Research aggregated datasets and insights is made available for free download at https://www.neilsberg.com/research/.

Recommended for further research

This dataset is a part of the main dataset for United States median household income. You can refer the same here

In the first quarter of 2025, 51.4 percent of the total wealth in the United States was owned by members of the baby boomer generation. In comparison, millennials owned around 10.3 percent of total wealth in the U.S. In terms of population distribution, there was almost an equal share of millennials and baby boomers in the United States in 2024.

This map shows the predominant household income by county, tract, and block group in the US in 2018. County is symbolized using color for the predominant income range. Tract and block group use color and size to show the predominant income range and count of total households. There are 9 income ranges:Household Income less than $15,000Household Income $15,000-$24,999Household Income $25,000-$34,999Household Income $35,000-$49,999Household Income $50,000-$74,999Household Income $75,000-$99,999Household Income $100,000-$149,999Household Income $150,000-$199,999Household Income $200,000 or greaterThe source of data is Esri's 2018 Demographic estimates. For more information about Esri's demographic data, visit the Updated Demographics documentation.

Distribution of total income for persons not in economic families (living alone, living with non-relatives only) in constant 2020 dollars by age, gender, presence of earner, and year.

Distribution of census family total income in constant 2020 dollars by family structure (couples with and without children, male and female lone-parents families), family size, ages of members, and year.

Income, consumption and wealth (ICW) statistics are experimental statistics computed by Eurostat through the statistical matching of three data sources: the EU Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC), the Household Budget Survey (HBS) and the Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS). These statistics enable us to observe at the same time the income that households receive, their expenditures and their accumulated wealth.

The annual collection of EU-SILC was launched in 2003 and is governed by Regulation 1700/2019 (previously: Regulation 1177/2003) of the European Parliament and of the Council. The EU-SILC collects cross-sectional and longitudinal information on income. HBS is a survey conducted every 5 years on the basis of an agreement between Eurostat, the Member States and EFTA countries. Data are collected using national questionnaires and, in most cases, expenditure diaries that respondents are asked to keep over a certain period of time. HFCS collects information on assets, liabilities, and to a limited extent income and consumption, of households. The survey is run by National Central Banks and coordinated by the European Central Bank.

This page focuses on the main issues of importance for the use and interpretation of ICW statistics. Information on the primary data sources can be found on the respective EU-SILC and HBS metadata pages and following the links provided in the sections 'related metadata' and 'annexes' below.

Experimental ICW statistics cover six topics: household economic resources, affordability of essential services, saving rates, poverty, household characteristics and taxation. Each topic contains several indicators with a number of different breakdowns, mainly by income quantile, by the age group of the household reference person, by household type, by the educational attainment level of the reference person, by the activity status of the reference person and by the degree of urbanization of the household. The indicators provide information on the joint distribution of income, consumption and wealth and the links between these three economic dimensions. They help to describe households' economic vulnerability and material well-being. They also help to explain the dynamics of wealth inequalities.

All indicators are to be understood to describe households, not persons. Breakdowns by age group, educational attainment level and activity status refer to the household reference person, which is the person with the highest income. The only exception are the tables icw_pov_01, icw_pov_10, icw_pov_11 and icw_pov_12 for which the income, consumption and wealth of households have been equivalised such that equal shares were attributed to each household member. Values in tables icw_aff are calculated for households reporting non-zero values only.

Note on table icw _res_01 and icw_res_02: The indicator “Households” [HH] in icw_res_01 shows the share of households in the selection, which hold the corresponding shares of total disposable income [INC_DISP], consumption expenditure [EXPN_CONS] and net wealth [WLTH_NET] of the entire population. In theory, turning two of the three dimensions [quant_inc, quant_expn, quant_wlth] to TOTAL and the third one to any quintile, should result into a share of 20% of households. Nevertheless, this share is often below or above 20% of the total population of households in the country. The reason for this is that our figures are based on sample surveys. This means that the share of households corresponds indeed to 20% of households in the sample, however when we multiply each household of the sample with its sampling weight, the resulting shares of households in the total population differ from the 20%. If, for example, we disregard the income and wealth of households in our sample, the first consumption quintile contains the 20% of households with lowest consumption in the sample. However, multiplying this selection of households with their corresponding sampling weights may result into a different share of the total population. The “Households” [HH] indicator indicates the real share of households in the population that make up the theoretical quintile.

Distribution of economic family total income in 2020 constant dollars by family structure (couples, one-parent families, presence of children), family size, age of members, and number of earners.

Total income by age group and income source, economic family.

Income, consumption and wealth (ICW) statistics are experimental statistics computed by Eurostat through the statistical matching of three data sources: the EU Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC), the Household Budget Survey (HBS) and the Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS). These statistics enable us to observe at the same time the income that households receive, their expenditures and their accumulated wealth.

The annual collection of EU-SILC was launched in 2003 and is governed by Regulation 1700/2019 (previously: Regulation 1177/2003) of the European Parliament and of the Council. The EU-SILC collects cross-sectional and longitudinal information on income. HBS is a survey conducted every 5 years on the basis of an agreement between Eurostat, the Member States and EFTA countries. Data are collected using national questionnaires and, in most cases, expenditure diaries that respondents are asked to keep over a certain period of time. HFCS collects information on assets, liabilities, and to a limited extent income and consumption, of households. The survey is run by National Central Banks and coordinated by the European Central Bank.

This page focuses on the main issues of importance for the use and interpretation of ICW statistics. Information on the primary data sources can be found on the respective EU-SILC and HBS metadata pages and following the links provided in the sections 'related metadata' and 'annexes' below.

Experimental ICW statistics cover six topics: household economic resources, affordability of essential services, saving rates, poverty, household characteristics and taxation. Each topic contains several indicators with a number of different breakdowns, mainly by income quantile, by the age group of the household reference person, by household type, by the educational attainment level of the reference person, by the activity status of the reference person and by the degree of urbanization of the household. The indicators provide information on the joint distribution of income, consumption and wealth and the links between these three economic dimensions. They help to describe households' economic vulnerability and material well-being. They also help to explain the dynamics of wealth inequalities.

All indicators are to be understood to describe households, not persons. Breakdowns by age group, educational attainment level and activity status refer to the household reference person, which is the person with the highest income. The only exception are the tables icw_pov_01, icw_pov_10, icw_pov_11 and icw_pov_12 for which the income, consumption and wealth of households have been equivalised such that equal shares were attributed to each household member. Values in tables icw_aff are calculated for households reporting non-zero values only.

Note on table icw _res_01 and icw_res_02: The indicator “Households” [HH] in icw_res_01 shows the share of households in the selection, which hold the corresponding shares of total disposable income [INC_DISP], consumption expenditure [EXPN_CONS] and net wealth [WLTH_NET] of the entire population. In theory, turning two of the three dimensions [quant_inc, quant_expn, quant_wlth] to TOTAL and the third one to any quintile, should result into a share of 20% of households. Nevertheless, this share is often below or above 20% of the total population of households in the country. The reason for this is that our figures are based on sample surveys. This means that the share of households corresponds indeed to 20% of households in the sample, however when we multiply each household of the sample with its sampling weight, the resulting shares of households in the total population differ from the 20%. If, for example, we disregard the income and wealth of households in our sample, the first consumption quintile contains the 20% of households with lowest consumption in the sample. However, multiplying this selection of households with their corresponding sampling weights may result into a different share of the total population. The “Households” [HH] indicator indicates the real share of households in the population that make up the theoretical quintile.

Number of households in Taichung City by gender of head of economically responsible households and by total income group

Families of tax filers; Distribution of total income by census family type and age of older partner, parent or individual (final T1 Family File; T1FF).

Around half of the assets of family offices worldwide in 2024 were invested in equities. Public market equities accounted for around 30 percent of total asset allocation among institutional family offices worldwide, while private equity accounted for 21 percent of assets.