Peter Smith
New Fed data dropped showing the average American household is now worth over $1 million, while the typical family has about $193,000 sitting in their accounts. But before you start feeling broke, let's break down what these numbers actually tell us.
The Typical American Family Now Has $193K
So here's what's crazy – according to this tweet from @omzidar about the latest 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances, the median family net worth jumped to $193,000. That's a massive 37% increase from $141,100 back in 2019. We're talking about the biggest three-year wealth bump they've seen in recent history, which is honestly pretty impressive.
What's really interesting is that this wasn't just rich people getting richer. Younger families absolutely crushed it – if you're under 35, your median net worth shot up 143% to $39,000 in 2022. Yeah, $39K might not sound like a fortune, but going from practically nothing to having some real assets is actually a huge deal when you're starting out.
College-educated families also did really well during this period, which makes sense when you think about it. The whole economy was going through some wild changes, and having that education probably helped people navigate everything better.
The Average American Household Is Now Worth Over $1 Million
Here's where things get a bit tricky to understand. While the typical family has $193K, the average (or mean) net worth hit $1,063,700 in 2022. That's a 22% jump from $868,000 in 2019, which sounds absolutely insane until you realize what's actually happening here.
The thing is, averages can be super misleading when you've got some people who are just ridiculously wealthy. The top 10% of families have an average net worth of $8.3 million, with even their median being over $2 million. So when you mix those numbers with everyone else, you get this massive average that doesn't really represent what most people are dealing with.
Meanwhile, families in the middle (25th to 49th percentile) saw their wealth go from $66,500 to $95,300 – that's a 43% increase, which is solid but nothing compared to what happened at the top. And if you're in the bottom quarter of earners? You're still sitting below $5,000 in net worth, which is honestly pretty rough.
Your Education and Where You Live Still Matter Way More Than You'd Think
The data gets even more interesting when you look at how different groups did. If you went to college, your median net worth is sitting at $488,500, with an average of $1.7 million. Compare that to high school graduates who have a median of just $65,300, and you can see why everyone keeps pushing higher education.
But here's where it gets really uncomfortable to talk about – race still plays a huge role in wealth accumulation. White non-Hispanic families have a median net worth of $284,000, which is almost 10 times higher than Black families at $44,900. That's not just a gap, that's a massive chasm that shows how much work we still have to do on equality.
And then there's the homeowner vs. renter divide, which is probably the biggest wealth factor of all. If you own your home, your median net worth jumped to $396,200. If you're renting? You're looking at just $10,400. That's not even close, and it shows why everyone's so obsessed with getting into the housing market, even when prices seem absolutely crazy.
The bottom line? These numbers show that while a lot of families did well between 2019 and 2022, wealth inequality is still a massive issue. Having a college degree and owning a home are still the two biggest factors in building long-term wealth in America, which is something to keep in mind if you're trying to figure out your financial future.
Peter Smith
