The Top 1% Now Owns 32.5% of America's Wealth
It is the most concentrated share since the Federal Reserve began tracking the distribution in 1989.
wealth share
wealth share
combined
net worth
A Champagne Glass, Not a Pyramid
If American wealth were a vessel, it would not be a wide pyramid with most at the bottom. It would be a champagne glass — a vast bowl of riches at the top resting on a needle-thin stem of everyone else.
Scroll to move through each fifth of the U.S. population, from the poorest at the bottom to the richest at the top.
Wealth by group
A simpler view of the same numbers, this time grouping the U.S. population by Federal Reserve wealth bracket.
100 Americans
Each dot represents 1 percent of the U.S. population, colored by the wealth group its members belong to.
The Top 1% Share, Since 1989
From 23.0 percent in 1989 to 32.5 percent in mid-2026 — the highest share on record. The line has bent upward through every boom.
977 People, $9.2 Trillion
Together they hold more than twice the wealth of the entire bottom half of the country. Their combined fortune has more than tripled since March 2020.
Same Country, Different Starting Lines
Wealth in America runs along racial lines that have persisted for generations — the result, in large part, of policy choices made over the last century.
Each row shows a racial group's share of total U.S. wealth alongside its share of households. The wider the gap, the less neutral the system.
Where Do You Sit?
Enter your net worth and age to see your exact position in the U.S. wealth distribution.
Net worth = total assets minus total debts. Include home equity, retirement, savings. Subtract mortgage, student loans, other debts.
Have a number we should look at?
This project is a living document. If you spot an error, want a chart added, have a dataset to suggest, or simply want to argue with a framing — write in.
lacunae.us@gmail.com