Wealth Asset Breakdown: America’s Top 0.1% vs. Bottom 50%

Pallavi Rao
2025-03-31 08:11:00
www.visualcapitalist.com

See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.

Wealth Asset Breakdown: America’s Top 0.1% vs. Bottom 50%

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Key Takeaways

America’s Richest 0.1% (134,000 households) own $11 trillion in equities, their largest asset class.
This is worth more than the total combined wealth assets of the bottom 50% (66.6 million households).
The bottom 50%’s largest category of wealth is real estate, most likely their primary homes.

It’s no secret that America’s wealth inequality is increasing. The richest Americans now own nearly a full-third of the country’s total wealth.

And within that select group, the top 0.1% own nearly 15% of America’s wealth. This is compared to the around 3% held by the entire bottom 50%.

But where exactly is this wealth parked? We visualize the asset breakdown for the top 0.1% and compare it to the bottom 50% with data from the Federal Reserve, current to Q3, 2024.

The Top 0.1% Prefer Equities Over Everything Else

The massive difference in assets owned is perhaps the biggest single takeaway from this chart.

Category	Top 0.1% Wealth Assets	Share of Total Assets (Top 0.1%)	Bottom 50% Wealth Assets	Share of Total Assets (Bottom 50%)
Real estate	$2.0T	9%	$4.9T	49%
Consumer durables	$0.6T	3%	$1.9T	19%
Equities	$11.0T	49%	$0.5T	5%
Pensions	$0.5T	2%	$1.2T	12%
Private businesses	$4.4T	20%	$0.2T	2%
Other assets	$3.9T	17%	$1.4T	14%
Total	$22.3T	NA	$9.9T	NA

Note: This data represents wealth assets only, and doesn’t account for debt.

For example, America’s richest 0.1% (134,000 households) own $11 trillion in equities, their largest asset class.

This is worth more than the total combined wealth assets of the bottom 50% (66.6 million households).

Meanwhile, the bottom 50%’s largest category of wealth is real estate, most likely their primary homes.

It’s also interesting to see that the super-rich’s wealth is mostly liquid: where stock can be sold and converted to cash easily.

However the bottom 50% percent’s wealth is mostly in housing and durable goods (like cars) which are far harder to sell.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

How do America’s wealthiest contribute to the social security net? Check out: Income Tax by Wealth Bracket for a quick overview.

The post Wealth Asset Breakdown: America’s Top 0.1% vs. Bottom 50% appeared first on Visual Capitalist.

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