Share of US Household Wealth Held by the Bottom 50%

## What this measures

The share of total US household net worth held by the less wealthy half of households.

## Why it matters

Wealth, not income, is what lets a household absorb a lost job, start a business, or help a child. The distribution of wealth moves slowly, but when it moves it changes who has room to take a risk.

## How to read it

Shares of total US household net worth, in percent; the four groups sum to 100. Read the trend over years, not quarters. Rising asset prices mechanically push the top share up because the top holds most of the equities; rising home prices do more for the middle.

## What it does not say

The DFA distributes the Financial Accounts totals using the triennial Survey of Consumer Finances, so quarter-to-quarter moves come from asset prices more than from changes in who owns what. It does not measure mobility between groups.

## Source

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Distributional Financial Accounts (`dfa-networth-shares.csv`). Quarterly, public domain.