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Graphics: Half of American households hold just 2.4% of U.S. wealth

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Recently, the official Weibo account of the U.S. Embassy in China cited Federal Reserve data to highlight wealth inequality in the United States:

By the end of 2023, the net worth of American households reached a record high of $156.2 trillion. With approximately 130 million households, the average net worth per household is about $1.2 million. However, the median net worth per household, based on the Federal Reserve's 2022 analysis, is $192,000—indicating that half of U.S. households have a net worth below this figure.

Graphics: Half of American households hold just 2.4% of U.S. wealth
Graphics: Half of American households hold just 2.4% of U.S. wealth

Chinese netizens used this data and shared it with Chinese AI startup DeepSeek, which calculated a U.S. Gini index of 0.823. The Gini index ranges from 0 (perfect equality) to 1 (maximum inequality). A high Gini index, such as 0.8 for net worth, indicates significant wealth concentration among a small percentage of households, reflecting the disparity between the wealthiest and the rest of the population.

Graphics: Half of American households hold just 2.4% of U.S. wealth

While this estimate oversimplifies the Gini coefficient, which requires detailed distribution data—such as wealth percentiles or household-level information—to construct a Lorenz curve, the statistics do highlight the significant disparity between average and median net worth.

For reference, the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) reported a Gini coefficient for net worth of approximately 0.85 in 2019. This underscores persistently high levels of wealth inequality in the U.S. In comparison, the U.S. Census Bureau calculated a Gini index for income inequality of 0.488 in 2022.

Graphics: Half of American households hold just 2.4% of U.S. wealth

It is important to note that the Gini index for wealth is typically higher than that for income because wealth accumulates over time and is influenced by investments, inheritance, and other factors that disproportionately benefit the top earners.

Additionally, Federal Reserve data from the third quarter of 2024 shows that the bottom 50 percent of U.S. households collectively hold only 2.4 percent of the nation's wealth.

Graphics: Half of American households hold just 2.4% of U.S. wealth
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