What Americans Own

Almost all American households own something of value. Fully 99.6 percent of households owned one or more of the assets measured by the Federal Reserve Board's 2019 Survey of Consumer Finances. But only four kinds of assets are owned by most households: transaction accounts (checking and savings accounts), vehicles, a home, and a retirement account. 

Here is the percentage of households owning each type of asset, ranked from most to least common, and the median value of the assets for households that own them:

	percent of households owning	median value         for owners
Any asset	99.6%	$227,600
Checking/savings accounts	98.2%	$5,300
Vehicles	85.4%	$17,200
Primary residence	64.9%	$225,000
Retirement account	50.5%	$65,000
Cash value life insurance	19.0%	$9,000
Stocks (directly owned)	15.2%	$25,000
Business equity	13.4%	$89,100
Other residential property	13.1%	$160,000
Pooled investment (mutual) funds	9.0%	$110,000
Certificates of deposit	7.7%	$25,000
Savings bonds	7.5%	$800
Equity in nonresidential property	6.7%	$72,000
Other managed assets	5.9%	$115,000
Bonds (directly owned)	1.1%	$121,000

Source: Federal Reserve Board, 2019 Survey of Consumer Finances