Wealth share of the richest 1% in United States
United States: Wealth share of the richest 1% was 34.8% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Latest (2024)
34.8%
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
26th
of 215 countries
All-time high
48.7%
in 1929
All-time low
21.8%
in 1978
Years of data
117
1820–2024
Wealth share of the richest 1% in United States, 1820–2024
Source: World Inequality Database (WID.world) (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
United States recorded 34.8% for wealth share of the richest 1% in 2024.
That represents a change of down 2.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, wealth share of the richest 1% in United States peaked at 48.7% in 1929 and was at its lowest, 21.8%, 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 of the richest 1% in United States, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1820 | 34.1% | — |
| 1850 | 37.6% | +10.3% |
| 1880 | 34.3% | -8.8% |
| 1900 | 35.4% | +3.0% |
| 1910 | 35.5% | +0.3% |
| 1913 | 46.6% | +31.5% |
| 1914 | 46.1% | -1.1% |
| 1915 | 46.1% | +0.1% |
| 1916 | 44.5% | -3.6% |
| 1917 | 42.0% | -5.5% |
| 1918 | 38.4% | -8.5% |
| 1919 | 41.3% | +7.4% |
| 1920 | 37.0% | -10.4% |
| 1921 | 38.1% | +3.2% |
| 1922 | 41.1% | +7.8% |
| 1923 | 36.6% | -11.1% |
| 1924 | 38.6% | +5.6% |
| 1925 | 41.9% | +8.5% |
| 1926 | 43.5% | +3.8% |
| 1927 | 45.9% | +5.4% |
| 1928 | 48.5% | +5.8% |
| 1929 | 48.7% | +0.2% |
| 1930 | 44.2% | -9.2% |
| 1931 | 39.6% | -10.3% |
| 1932 | 39.4% | -0.6% |
| 1933 | 41.5% | +5.4% |
| 1934 | 42.1% | +1.5% |
| 1935 | 41.5% | -1.4% |
| 1936 | 44.0% | +5.8% |
| 1937 | 44.7% | +1.8% |
| 1938 | 40.9% | -8.7% |
| 1939 | 41.9% | +2.6% |
| 1940 | 39.0% | -7.0% |
| 1941 | 35.9% | -8.0% |
| 1942 | 35.4% | -1.4% |
| 1943 | 35.5% | +0.5% |
| 1944 | 32.9% | -7.6% |
| 1945 | 33.0% | +0.5% |
| 1946 | 30.9% | -6.4% |
| 1947 | 29.8% | -3.7% |
| 1948 | 29.2% | -1.8% |
| 1949 | 28.4% | -2.9% |
| 1950 | 29.6% | +4.4% |
| 1951 | 29.1% | -1.6% |
| 1952 | 28.8% | -1.1% |
| 1953 | 27.6% | -4.1% |
| 1954 | 28.2% | +2.2% |
| 1955 | 28.5% | +0.9% |
| 1956 | 28.8% | +1.1% |
| 1957 | 28.4% | -1.3% |
| 1958 | 28.0% | -1.6% |
| 1959 | 28.6% | +2.1% |
| 1960 | 28.5% | -0.0% |
| 1961 | 28.7% | +0.6% |
| 1962 | 28.7% | -0.1% |
| 1963 | 28.3% | -1.1% |
| 1964 | 28.0% | -1.1% |
| 1965 | 27.9% | -0.5% |
| 1966 | 27.8% | -0.5% |
| 1967 | 27.7% | -0.4% |
| 1968 | 29.2% | +5.6% |
| 1969 | 27.4% | -6.3% |
| 1970 | 26.7% | -2.6% |
| 1971 | 26.6% | -0.2% |
| 1972 | 26.4% | -0.7% |
| 1973 | 25.3% | -4.3% |
| 1974 | 24.1% | -4.9% |
| 1975 | 23.7% | -1.5% |
| 1976 | 22.6% | -4.6% |
| 1977 | 22.7% | +0.4% |
| 1978 | 21.8% | -3.9% |
| 1979 | 23.2% | +6.6% |
| 1980 | 23.2% | +0.0% |
| 1981 | 23.9% | +2.8% |
| 1982 | 24.5% | +2.6% |
| 1983 | 24.0% | -2.2% |
| 1984 | 24.2% | +0.8% |
| 1985 | 24.2% | +0.1% |
| 1986 | 24.9% | +3.0% |
| 1987 | 26.6% | +6.6% |
| 1988 | 28.4% | +7.0% |
| 1989 | 28.9% | +1.4% |
| 1990 | 29.1% | +0.7% |
| 1991 | 28.6% | -1.7% |
| 1992 | 29.5% | +3.3% |
| 1993 | 29.1% | -1.5% |
| 1994 | 29.3% | +0.8% |
| 1995 | 29.3% | +0.1% |
| 1996 | 29.6% | +1.2% |
| 1997 | 30.5% | +2.8% |
| 1998 | 31.5% | +3.3% |
| 1999 | 31.8% | +1.0% |
| 2000 | 32.3% | +1.7% |
| 2001 | 32.1% | -0.6% |
| 2002 | 31.5% | -2.1% |
| 2003 | 31.1% | -1.2% |
| 2004 | 31.7% | +1.9% |
| 2005 | 32.3% | +2.0% |
| 2006 | 32.7% | +1.2% |
| 2007 | 33.4% | +2.1% |
| 2008 | 34.0% | +1.8% |
| 2009 | 33.1% | -2.6% |
| 2010 | 34.6% | +4.5% |
| 2011 | 35.3% | +1.9% |
| 2012 | 36.6% | +3.8% |
| 2013 | 35.6% | -2.7% |
| 2014 | 35.8% | +0.5% |
| 2015 | 35.8% | -0.1% |
| 2016 | 35.5% | -0.9% |
| 2017 | 35.5% | -0.1% |
| 2018 | 35.2% | -0.8% |
| 2019 | 34.9% | -1.0% |
| 2020 | 35.1% | +0.8% |
| 2021 | 36.3% | +3.2% |
| 2022 | 34.9% | -3.8% |
| 2023 | 34.8% | -0.3% |
| 2024 | 34.8% | +0.0% |
United States compared with similar countries
- United States's 34.8% is above the median for high income countries, which is 27.5%, 1.3× the median. (79 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Wealth share of the richest 1% 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% | 35.5% | 46.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1820s | 34.1% | 34.1% | 34.1% | 1 |
| 1850s | 37.6% | 37.6% | 37.6% | 1 |
| 1880s | 34.3% | 34.3% | 34.3% | 1 |
| 1900s | 35.4% | 35.4% | 35.4% | 1 |
| 1910s | 42.6% | 35.5% | 46.6% | 8 |
| 1920s | 42.0% | 36.6% | 48.7% | 10 |
| 1930s | 42.0% | 39.4% | 44.7% | 10 |
| 1940s | 33.0% | 28.4% | 39.0% | 10 |
| 1950s | 28.6% | 27.6% | 29.6% | 10 |
| 1960s | 28.2% | 27.4% | 29.2% | 10 |
| 1970s | 24.3% | 21.8% | 26.7% | 10 |
| 1980s | 25.3% | 23.2% | 28.9% | 10 |
| 1990s | 29.8% | 28.6% | 31.8% | 10 |
| 2000s | 32.4% | 31.1% | 34.0% | 10 |
| 2010s | 35.5% | 34.6% | 36.6% | 10 |
| 2020s | 35.2% | 34.8% | 36.3% | 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 of the richest 1% in United States?
- Wealth share of the richest 1% in United States was 34.8% in 2024, according to World Inequality Database (WID.world) (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest wealth share of the richest 1% recorded in United States?
- The highest recorded value was 48.7% in 1929.
- What is the lowest wealth share of the richest 1% recorded in United States?
- The lowest recorded value was 21.8% in 1978.
- How does United States rank for wealth share of the richest 1%?
- United States ranks 26th out of 215 countries with data for 2024.
- Is wealth share of the richest 1% 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 World Inequality Database (WID.world) (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Wealth share of the richest 1%. 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).
About this data
Share of wealth owned by the richest 1% of the population. Wealth is defined as the total value of non-financial and financial assets (housing, land, deposits, bonds, equities, etc.) held by households, minus their debts.