Wealth distribution by generation U.S. 2023 | Statista (2024)

FAQs

What is the distribution of wealth in the United States 2023? ›

In the fourth quarter of 2023, the top ten percent of earners in the United States held 66.9 percent of total wealth. This is fairly consistent with the third quarter of 2023. Comparatively, the wealth of the bottom 50 percent of earners has been slowly increasing since the start of the 2010s, though remains low.

In 2022, the vast majority of the country's wealth (64.6%) belonged to the older generations with baby boomers owning a whopping 52.1% of the country's wealth, while the silent generation owned 12.5%.

That's the highest 5% threshold of any state. The most populous state in the country has the third-highest threshold for the top 1% of taxpayers. In 2023, households earning at least $844,266 per year are considered among California's top 1%.

Sixty% of wealth transfers are lost by the second generation, and 90% by the third. Only 10% of wealth passes beyond the third generation. The overall financial environment, income tax regulations, and estate tax laws fluctuate dramatically over a three-generation time-span.

Long-run trends in life-cycle wealth

In numbers, all cohorts start with roughly comparable wealth around age 30, but more recent cohorts experience about 50% higher wealth by age 65, rising from 5 to 6 times the cohorts' own income to 8 to 9 times (Figure 1).

Which generation spends the most? According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Generation X (that is, people born between 1965 and 1980) spent the most money in 2022 with an average annual expenditure of $91,382. The top spending categories for Gen X were housing, transportation, and food (in that order).

Both median and average family net worth surged between 2019 and 2022, according to the U.S. Federal Reserve. Average net worth increased by 23% to $1,063,700, the Fed reported in October 2023, the most recent year it published the data. Median net worth, on the other hand, rose 37% over that same period to $192,900.

Is the wealth distribution fair? ›

Wealth is distributed in a highly unequal fashion, with the wealthiest 1 percent of families in the United States holding about 40 percent of all wealth and the bottom 90 percent of families holding less than one-quarter of all wealth. (See Figure 1.) Notably, 25 percent of families have less than $10,000 in wealth.

According to IRS standards, a monthly income of approximately $45,000 qualifies someone as wealthy. However, if you're aiming for the top 1% as measured by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), you'd need to earn about $68,277 monthly.

However, over the next twenty years, Millennials are poised to inherit some $90 trillion of assets and become the richest generation in history – but only the ones who already come from affluent families, potentially deepening wealth inequality further.

When looking at baby boomers—currently aged 59 to 78—the researchers found economic outcomes a bit more mixed. While it's true the average millennial has 30% less wealth at age 35 than boomers at the same age, the richest 10% of millennials have 20% more wealth than the richest boomers did.

Baby-boomers were born between 1946 and 1964—and are the luckiest generation in history. Most of the cohort, which numbers 270m across the rich world, have not fought wars. Some got to see the Beatles live. They grew up during strong economic growth.

By the Numbers: U.S. Economy Grows Faster than Expected for Year and Final Quarter of 2023. Today, the U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported fourth quarter real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 3.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023 exceeding expectations.

You need more money than ever to enter the ranks of the top 1% of the richest Americans. To join the club of the wealthiest citizens in the U.S., you'll need at least $5.8 million, up about 15% up from $5.1 million one year ago, according to global real estate company Knight Frank's 2024 Wealth Report.

The top 3.65%, with incomes over $200,000, earned 17.5%. Households with annual incomes from $50,000 to $75,000, 18.2% of households, earned 16.5% of all income. Households with annual incomes from $50,000 to $95,000, 28.1% of households, earned 28.8% of all income. The bottom 10.3% earned 1.06% of all income.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, the average U.S. annual salary in Q4 of 2023 was $59,384. This is up 5.4% from the same time period in 2022 when the average American was making $56,316 per year. Average weekly earnings reached $1,142, while the average American made $4,949 per month in Q4 of 2023.