In the first quarter of 2024, 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 follows closely behind China as the country with the most billionaires in the world. Elon Musk alone held around 219 billion U.S. dollars in 2022. 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.

Graph and download economic data for Share of Net Worth Held by the Top 1% (99th to 100th Wealth Percentiles) (WFRBST01134) from Q3 1989 to Q4 2024 about net worth, wealth, percentile, Net, and USA.

In the third quarter of 2024, the top ten percent of earners in the United States held over 67 percent of total wealth. This is fairly consistent with the second quarter of 2024. Comparatively, the wealth of the bottom 50 percent of earners has been slowly increasing since the start of the 2010s, though remains low. Wealth distribution in the United States by generation can be found here.

In the first quarter of 2024, 51.8 percent of the total wealth in the United States was owned by members of the baby boomer generation. In comparison, millennials own around 9.4 percent of total wealth in the U.S. In terms of population distribution, there is almost an equal share of millennials and baby boomers in the United States.

In the third quarter of 2024, 51.6 percent of the total wealth in the United States was owned by members of the baby boomer generation. In comparison, millennials owned around ten percent of total wealth in the U.S. In terms of population distribution, there is almost an equal share of millennials and baby boomers in the United States.

This table describes the wealth distribution of the sector households in the national accounts over different household groups. Households are identified by main source of income, living situation, household composition, age classes of the head of the household, income class by 20 % groups, and net worth class by 20 % groups.

Data available from: 2015.

Status of the figures: Dates of 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 are provisional.

Changes as of September 10th 2021: The figures of 2015-2018 are revised, because national accounts figures are changed due to the revision policy of Statistics Netherlands. For 2018 also microdata are added that were not available before. Results for 2019 are added to the table.

When will new figures be published? New figures will be released in September 2022.

The massive wealth inequality in the world is underpinned by this chart: While just above one percent of the world's population had fortunes of more than one million U.S. dollars in 2022, more than half of the global population had a total wealth of less than 10,000 U.S. dollars.

This table shows the distribution of wealth of households. The figures in this table are broken down to components of wealth and different household characteristics. Data available from: 2006. The population consists of all private households with income on January 1st of the reporting year. Status of the figures: The figures for 2006 to 2022 are final. The figures for 2023 are preliminary. The compilation of the figures has been changed in a number of parts from reporting year 2011 compared to previous years: From 2011, more complete information on bank and saving credits and securities is available. All small amounts are also observed from that moment on. As a result, there are more households with these assets. From 2011, more complete information on debts is available. Education loans and loans from banks are fully observed from that moment on. As a result, there are more households with other loans. Changes as of 1 November 2024: Update with final figures for 2022 and provisional figures for 2023 When will new figures be published? New figures for 2024 will be published in the fall of 2025.

This map shows households within high ($200,000 or more) and low (less than $25,000) annual income ranges. This is shown as a percentage of total households. The data is attached to tract, county, and state centroids and shows:Percent of households making less than $25,000 annuallyPercent of households making $200,000 or more annuallyThe data shown is household income in the past 12 months. These are the American Community Survey (ACS) most current 5-year estimates: Table B19001. The data layer is updated annually, so this map always shows the most current values from the U.S. Census Bureau. To find the layer used in this map and see the full metadata, visit this Living Atlas item.These categories were constructed using an Arcade expression, which groups the lowest census income categories and normalizes them by total households.

In 2022, from the total national wealth in Mexico, 79.1 percent belonged to the top ten percent group. Meanwhile, the bottom 50 percent had a total of -0.3 percent, which means that, on average, the bottom half has more debts than assets. Further, the average personal wealth of the top one percent was valued at 2.91 million euros.

Hungary - Inequality of income distribution was 4.26 in December of 2024, according to the EUROSTAT. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Hungary - Inequality of income distribution - last updated from the EUROSTAT on June of 2025. Historically, Hungary - Inequality of income distribution reached a record high of 4.47 in December of 2023 and a record low of 3.41 in December of 2010.

Italy - Inequality of income distribution was 5.53 in December of 2024, according to the EUROSTAT. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Italy - Inequality of income distribution - last updated from the EUROSTAT on June of 2025. Historically, Italy - Inequality of income distribution reached a record high of 6.27 in December of 2016 and a record low of 5.27 in December of 2023.

Estonia - Inequality of income distribution was 5.03 in December of 2024, according to the EUROSTAT. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Estonia - Inequality of income distribution - last updated from the EUROSTAT on June of 2025. Historically, Estonia - Inequality of income distribution reached a record high of 6.48 in December of 2014 and a record low of 5.01 in December of 2010.

As of 2021, the countries in Europe with the greatest share of national wealth taken by the top 10 percent of wealthy people were Russia, Turkey, and Hungary, with over two-thirds of wealth in Russia being owned by the wealthiest decile. On the other hand, the Netherlands, Slovakia, and Denmark were the countries with the smallest share of national wealth going to the top 10 percent, with more than half of wealth in the Netherlands going to the bottom 90 percent. Ireland, Poland, and Greece stand out, as in these countries the 50 percent of people who own the least wealth in fact have negative net wealth, meaning that the value of their debt is greater than the value of their gross wealth.

In 2023, according to the Gini coefficient, household income distribution in the United States was 0.47. This figure was at 0.43 in 1990, which indicates an increase in income inequality in the U.S. over the past 30 years. What is the Gini coefficient? The Gini coefficient, or Gini index, is a statistical measure of economic inequality and wealth distribution among a population. A value of zero represents perfect economic equality, and a value of one represents perfect economic inequality. The Gini coefficient helps to visualize income inequality in a more digestible way. For example, according to the Gini coefficient, the District of Columbia and the state of New York have the greatest amount of income inequality in the U.S. with a score of 0.51, and Utah has the greatest income equality with a score of 0.43. The Gini coefficient around the world The Gini coefficient is also an effective measure to help picture income inequality around the world. For example, in 2018 income inequality was highest in South Africa, while income inequality was lowest in Slovenia.

Wealth indicators and distributions, by household characteristics such as income quintile, age, housing tenure and composition, Canada, annual 2010 to 2019 and quarterly starting 2020.

This table contains data described by the following dimensions (Not all combinations are available): Geography (13 items: Canada; Atlantic Region; Newfoundland and Labrador; Prince Edward Island; ...);  Statistics (3 items: Value; Distribution of value; Value per household);  Characteristics (1 item: All households);  Wealth (11 items: Total assets; Financial assets; Life insurance and pensions; Other financial assets; ...).

Graph and download economic data for Households; Net Worth, Level (BOGZ1FL192090005Q) from Q4 1987 to Q4 2024 about net worth, Net, households, and USA.

Bulgaria - Inequality of income distribution was 6.96 in December of 2024, according to the EUROSTAT. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Bulgaria - Inequality of income distribution - last updated from the EUROSTAT on June of 2025. Historically, Bulgaria - Inequality of income distribution reached a record high of 8.23 in December of 2017 and a record low of 5.86 in December of 2010.

This table describes the wealth distribution of the household sector in the national accounts to different household groups. Households are distinguished by the main source of income, housing situation, household composition, age class of the main cost earner and 20 % income groups.

Data available from 2005 to 2014.

Status of the figures: The 2005-2014 data are final.

Changes as of 22 June 2018 None, this table has been discontinued. The Central Statistical Office has recently carried out a revision of the national accounts. New statistical sources and estimation methods are used. This table containing data for revision has been replaced by the household asset distribution table; national accounts. For additional information see paragraph 3.

When are new figures coming? No longer applicable.