New Fed Survey Shows Drop in Americans’ Net Worth
June 13, 2012
The Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) released this week shows a sharp drop in Americans’ net worth between 2007 and 2010. Median net worth fell 38.8 percent and the average fell 14.7 percent. Both median income (-7.7 percent) and mean income (-11.1 percent) also fell sharply over the period. It also showed that equity in closely-held businesses accounted for 17.5 percent of all families net worth in 2010, down two percent.
The SCF is normally a triennial interview survey of U.S. families sponsored by Federal Reserve System. Since 1992, data for the SCF have been collected by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago.
The decline in housing prices was of greater importance than financial assets for the wealth position of most families.
There was substantial movement up and down the income scale. Thirty-one percent of the bottom income quintile moved up between 2007 and 2009 while 25 percent of those in the top income quintile fell out.
The hardest hit quintile was the middle income quintile and the youngest two quintiles. See table below.
|
Family Net Worth By selected characteristics of families, 2001–10 surveys Thousands of 2010 dollars |
||||||
|
2007 |
2007 |
2010 |
2010 |
Three Year Change | ||
|
Median |
Mean |
Median |
Mean |
Median |
Mean |
|
| All Families |
126.4 |
584.6 |
77.3 |
498.8 |
-39% |
-15% |
| Percentile of income | ||||||
| Less than 20 |
8.5 |
110.3 |
6.2 |
116.8 |
-27% |
6% |
| 20–39.9 |
39.6 |
141.3 |
25.6 |
127.9 |
-35% |
-9% |
| 40–59.9 |
92.3 |
220.6 |
65.9 |
199 |
-29% |
-10% |
| 60–79.9 |
215.7 |
393.9 |
128.6 |
293.9 |
-40% |
-25% |
| 80–89.9 |
373.2 |
638.1 |
286.6 |
567.2 |
-23% |
-11% |
| 90–100 |
1,172.30 |
3,474.70 |
1,194.30 |
2,944.10 |
2% |
-15% |
| Age of Head (years) | ||||||
| Less than 35 |
12.4 |
111.1 |
9.3 |
65.3 |
-25% |
-41% |
| 35–44 |
92.4 |
341.9 |
42.1 |
217.4 |
-54% |
-36% |
| 45–54 |
193.7 |
694.6 |
117.9 |
573.1 |
-39% |
-17% |
| 55–64 |
266.2 |
986.7 |
179.4 |
880.5 |
-33% |
-11% |
| 65–74 |
250.8 |
1,064.10 |
206.7 |
848.3 |
-18% |
-20% |
| 75 or more |
223.7 |
668.8 |
216.8 |
677.8 |
-3% |
1% |
The share of families that owned a privately held business interest edged down 0.3 percent to 13.3 percent in 2010. Net equity in closely-held businesses accounted for 17.5 percent of all families net worth in 2010.
|
Net Equity in Business as a percentage of All Assets |
||
|
2010 |
Change, 2007–10 |
|
| All families |
17.5% |
–2.1% |
For more Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances information, click here.
