The Federal Reserve provides information on the distribution of U.S. household wealth in the form of interactive charts and tables. These allow users to explore household wealth components, shares and levels across various groups and time. The information was last updated in September 2023. This post will cover wealth assets and trends by race and ethnicity. Here’s the chart of assets by race and ethnicity:
A very brief explanation of terms: The five main categories of real estate are residential, commercial, industrial, raw land, and special use properties such as private schools and museums. Corporate equities are ownership shares of joint-stock corporations. A stock market is the aggregation of buyers and sellers of stocks, which represent ownership claims on businesses. Stocks are an investment in a single company, whereas mutual funds have many investments, such as stocks and bonds, in a single fund. Defined benefit pension plans promise a specified monthly benefit at retirement, whereas contributed benefit plans do not. Private business assets are items of value that one’s business owns or creates, including cash, inventory, equipment, buildings and intellectual property. Other assets include cash, art, collectibles, vehicles, etc.
Here’s the wealth-by-race chart:
Per the Fed, in 1990, whites owned 90% of US household wealth, with Blacks owning 4%, Hispanics 2%, and Other (mostly Asian) 2%. In 2023, whites owned 82% of household wealth, with Blacks 4%, Hispanics 3%, and Other 10%. In other words, zero progress for Blacks. As to why this is the case, I will be exploring that issue in future posts.