Money

Visualized: The 1%’s Share of U.S. Wealth Over Time (1989-2024)

Published

2 months ago

February 8, 2025

Govind Bhutada

Graphics/Design:

Clayton Wadsworth

See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.

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Visualized: The 1%’s Share of U.S. Wealth Over Time

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The U.S. has the highest number of billionaires, centi-millionaires, and millionaires in the world, and the distribution of wealth in the U.S. has been a topic of debate for decades.

In this visualization, we outline the share of total U.S. net worth held by the top 1% of wealth holders (99th to 100th wealth percentiles) from 1989 to 2024, based on data from the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) platform.

The Rising Wealth Share of the Top 1%

Over the last 35 years, the wealthiest 1% of Americans have significantly increased their share of the country’s net worth, as shown in the data table below.

Year	Share of Net Worth Held by the 1%
1989	22.8%
1994	25.7%
1999	27.5%
2004	26.9%
2009	28.1%
2014	30.4%
2019	30.4%
2024	30.8%

In 1989, the top 1% held 22.8% of total U.S. net worth. As of 2024, this share has surged to 30.8%. Although this figure has hovered close to 30% over the last decade, the overall rise underscores the growing concentration of wealth at the very top.

A deeper look into the data reveals that the top 0.1%—the ultra-wealthy segment—accounts for 13.8% of the total net worth. The remaining 0.9% within the top 1% holds 17%.

In dollar amounts, the top 1% held a staggering $49.2 trillion of wealth in 2024.

The Growing Divide in U.S. Income Distribution

While the top 1% has expanded its grip on wealth, the bottom 50% (1st to 50th wealth percentiles) has seen its share shrink.

In 1989, the bottom 50% held 3.5% of total U.S. net worth. Today, that figure has dropped to just 2.8%, reflecting widening wealth inequality within the country.

This data is reinforced by the U.S. GINI Index score, which measures the extent of deviation from a perfectly equal wealth distribution, with a higher number indicating greater inequality. Between 1979 and 2022, the country’s Gini coefficient increased from 34.8 to 41.3.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

Many of America’s richest people could become trillionaires over the next decade. Check out When Could Billionaires Become Trillionaires? on the Voronoi App to learn more.