Thursday, March 21, 2013

Household Wealth: 2011 Update

First, a thank you to the Census Bureau for providing updated statistics on household wealth. In these economically trying times, it is more important than ever to track the changing financial status of American households. Now on to the numbers.

Median household net worth
Median household net worth was $68,828 in 2011. This was 35 percent lower than the $106,585 of 2005, after adjusting for inflation. It was 16 percent below the $81,821 of 2000. Excluding home equity, median household net worth in 2011 was just $16,942.

Aggregate household net worth
In contrast to the decline in the median, aggregate net worth climbed from $28.9 trillion in 2000 to $40.2 trillion in 2011, after adjusting for inflation. The increase in aggregate net worth as the median declines means the nation's wealth is accruing to a smaller portion of households and leaving Main Street behind.

Housing equity as a share of net worth
The share of household wealth accounted for by home equity fell from 41 percent in 1984 (the first year for which data are available) to 30 percent in 2000. In 2011, home equity accounted for just 25 percent of aggregate household wealth.

Source: Census Bureau, Wealth and Asset Ownership, 2000 to 2011

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