Wealth share richest in United States
United States: Wealth share richest was 34.78 in 2024. ▼ Falling
Latest (2024)
34.78
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
26th
of 215 countries
All-time high
48.67
in 1929
All-time low
21.79
in 1978
Years of data
117
1820–2024
Wealth share richest in United States, 1820–2024
Source: Our World in Data.
Analysis
United States recorded 34.78 for wealth share richest in 2024.
That represents a change of down 2.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, wealth share richest in United States peaked at 48.67 in 1929 and was at its lowest, 21.79, in 1978.
United States ranks 26th of 215 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 117 years of available data.
Wealth share richest in United States, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1820 | 34.12 | — |
| 1850 | 37.62 | +10.3% |
| 1880 | 34.32 | -8.8% |
| 1900 | 35.36 | +3.0% |
| 1910 | 35.47 | +0.3% |
| 1913 | 46.63 | +31.5% |
| 1914 | 46.11 | -1.1% |
| 1915 | 46.14 | +0.1% |
| 1916 | 44.46 | -3.6% |
| 1917 | 42 | -5.5% |
| 1918 | 38.43 | -8.5% |
| 1919 | 41.27 | +7.4% |
| 1920 | 36.96 | -10.4% |
| 1921 | 38.13 | +3.2% |
| 1922 | 41.12 | +7.8% |
| 1923 | 36.56 | -11.1% |
| 1924 | 38.61 | +5.6% |
| 1925 | 41.89 | +8.5% |
| 1926 | 43.5 | +3.8% |
| 1927 | 45.87 | +5.4% |
| 1928 | 48.55 | +5.8% |
| 1929 | 48.67 | +0.2% |
| 1930 | 44.17 | -9.2% |
| 1931 | 39.61 | -10.3% |
| 1932 | 39.38 | -0.6% |
| 1933 | 41.5 | +5.4% |
| 1934 | 42.13 | +1.5% |
| 1935 | 41.54 | -1.4% |
| 1936 | 43.96 | +5.8% |
| 1937 | 44.73 | +1.8% |
| 1938 | 40.85 | -8.7% |
| 1939 | 41.9 | +2.6% |
| 1940 | 38.98 | -7.0% |
| 1941 | 35.88 | -8.0% |
| 1942 | 35.38 | -1.4% |
| 1943 | 35.54 | +0.5% |
| 1944 | 32.85 | -7.6% |
| 1945 | 33.01 | +0.5% |
| 1946 | 30.89 | -6.4% |
| 1947 | 29.75 | -3.7% |
| 1948 | 29.2 | -1.8% |
| 1949 | 28.36 | -2.9% |
| 1950 | 29.6 | +4.4% |
| 1951 | 29.14 | -1.6% |
| 1952 | 28.82 | -1.1% |
| 1953 | 27.63 | -4.1% |
| 1954 | 28.23 | +2.2% |
| 1955 | 28.48 | +0.9% |
| 1956 | 28.79 | +1.1% |
| 1957 | 28.42 | -1.3% |
| 1958 | 27.97 | -1.6% |
| 1959 | 28.55 | +2.1% |
| 1960 | 28.54 | -0.0% |
| 1961 | 28.7 | +0.6% |
| 1962 | 28.66 | -0.1% |
| 1963 | 28.34 | -1.1% |
| 1964 | 28.03 | -1.1% |
| 1965 | 27.9 | -0.5% |
| 1966 | 27.77 | -0.5% |
| 1967 | 27.66 | -0.4% |
| 1968 | 29.21 | +5.6% |
| 1969 | 27.38 | -6.3% |
| 1970 | 26.67 | -2.6% |
| 1971 | 26.62 | -0.2% |
| 1972 | 26.44 | -0.7% |
| 1973 | 25.31 | -4.3% |
| 1974 | 24.06 | -4.9% |
| 1975 | 23.7 | -1.5% |
| 1976 | 22.6 | -4.6% |
| 1977 | 22.68 | +0.4% |
| 1978 | 21.79 | -3.9% |
| 1979 | 23.23 | +6.6% |
| 1980 | 23.23 | +0.0% |
| 1981 | 23.89 | +2.8% |
| 1982 | 24.5 | +2.6% |
| 1983 | 23.96 | -2.2% |
| 1984 | 24.16 | +0.8% |
| 1985 | 24.19 | +0.1% |
| 1986 | 24.92 | +3.0% |
| 1987 | 26.57 | +6.6% |
| 1988 | 28.44 | +7.0% |
| 1989 | 28.85 | +1.4% |
| 1990 | 29.05 | +0.7% |
| 1991 | 28.57 | -1.7% |
| 1992 | 29.51 | +3.3% |
| 1993 | 29.06 | -1.5% |
| 1994 | 29.28 | +0.8% |
| 1995 | 29.3 | +0.1% |
| 1996 | 29.65 | +1.2% |
| 1997 | 30.47 | +2.8% |
| 1998 | 31.48 | +3.3% |
| 1999 | 31.81 | +1.0% |
| 2000 | 32.34 | +1.7% |
| 2001 | 32.14 | -0.6% |
| 2002 | 31.47 | -2.1% |
| 2003 | 31.1 | -1.2% |
| 2004 | 31.69 | +1.9% |
| 2005 | 32.32 | +2.0% |
| 2006 | 32.71 | +1.2% |
| 2007 | 33.4 | +2.1% |
| 2008 | 33.99 | +1.8% |
| 2009 | 33.12 | -2.6% |
| 2010 | 34.62 | +4.5% |
| 2011 | 35.28 | +1.9% |
| 2012 | 36.62 | +3.8% |
| 2013 | 35.64 | -2.7% |
| 2014 | 35.83 | +0.5% |
| 2015 | 35.81 | -0.1% |
| 2016 | 35.5 | -0.9% |
| 2017 | 35.48 | -0.1% |
| 2018 | 35.2 | -0.8% |
| 2019 | 34.85 | -1.0% |
| 2020 | 35.13 | +0.8% |
| 2021 | 36.26 | +3.2% |
| 2022 | 34.89 | -3.8% |
| 2023 | 34.78 | -0.3% |
| 2024 | 34.78 | +0.0% |
United States compared with similar countries
- United States's 34.78 is above the median for high income countries, which is 27.49, 1.3× the median. (79 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Wealth share richest in United States changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1913 | +31.5% | 35.47 | 46.63 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1820s | 34.12 | 34.12 | 34.12 | 1 |
| 1850s | 37.62 | 37.62 | 37.62 | 1 |
| 1880s | 34.32 | 34.32 | 34.32 | 1 |
| 1900s | 35.36 | 35.36 | 35.36 | 1 |
| 1910s | 42.56 | 35.47 | 46.63 | 8 |
| 1920s | 41.99 | 36.56 | 48.67 | 10 |
| 1930s | 41.98 | 39.38 | 44.73 | 10 |
| 1940s | 32.98 | 28.36 | 38.98 | 10 |
| 1950s | 28.56 | 27.63 | 29.6 | 10 |
| 1960s | 28.22 | 27.38 | 29.21 | 10 |
| 1970s | 24.31 | 21.79 | 26.67 | 10 |
| 1980s | 25.27 | 23.23 | 28.85 | 10 |
| 1990s | 29.82 | 28.57 | 31.81 | 10 |
| 2000s | 32.43 | 31.1 | 33.99 | 10 |
| 2010s | 35.48 | 34.62 | 36.62 | 10 |
| 2020s | 35.17 | 34.78 | 36.26 | 5 |
Countries ranked near United States
More reference data data for United States
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 19.34 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 24.55 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 119.42 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 20.7 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 119.42 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 64.85 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 52.14 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 133.45 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 589.96 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 112.69 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is wealth share richest in United States?
- Wealth share richest in United States was 34.78 in 2024, according to Our World in Data.
- What is the highest wealth share richest recorded in United States?
- The highest recorded value was 48.67 in 1929.
- What is the lowest wealth share richest recorded in United States?
- The lowest recorded value was 21.79 in 1978.
- How does United States rank for wealth share richest?
- United States ranks 26th out of 215 countries with data for 2024.
- Is wealth share richest rising or falling in United States?
- Over the last ten years it is down 2.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this United States data come from?
- The figures come from Our World in Data, published as part of Wealth share richest. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 117 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).