Wealth share of the richest 1% in United States
United States: Wealth share of the richest 1% was 34.8% in 2024. ▼ Falling
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.
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
- Spring temperature anomalies 2.51 °C (2026)
- Summer temperature anomalies 0.5014 °C (2026)
- Temperature anomalies by month 0.0594 °C (2026)
- Universal right to vote in practice 2 (2025)
- Autumn temperature anomalies 0.8696 °C (2025)
- Winter temperature anomalies 0.9189 °C (2025)
- Consumer price index 143.86 2010 = 100 (2024)
- Universal right to vote 2 (2025)
- Competitive elections 1 (2025)
- Men's universal right to vote 1 (2025)
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
The 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.