Wealth reflects the value of everything households own, including homes, stocks, businesses, and savings, minus what they owe.

Because different wealth groups own very different mixes of assets, long-term market trends can reshape how the nation’s wealth is divided.

This graphic, via Visual Capitalist’s Boyan Girginov, tracks how U.S. household wealth has shifted across wealth groups from Q3 1989 to Q4 2025 using data from the Federal Reserve’s Distributional Financial Accounts.

Wealth of the Top 1% vs. the Bottom 90%

The table below shows how the wealth distribution has changed over the last 35 years:

The top 1% built its wealth primarily through stocks and businesses, assets that have soared in value for decades. In fact, every group below the top 1% has lost share since 1989: even the next 9% of households, from the 90th to 99th percentiles, slipped from 38.0% to 36.4%.

Wealth further down the ladder is tied mostly to the family home, which appreciates far more slowly than the stock market. Much of the bottom 50%’s net worth is home equity, and many households in that group have little or no net worth at all. That’s why the gap between the top and the bottom has widened over the last 36 years.

How Markets Move Each Group’s Share

Market swings move each group’s share differently, depending on the assets its households own.

Every boom rewards whoever holds financial assets, and those gains compound: between 1989 and 2025, the top 0.1% increased its share of household wealth from 8.6% to 14.5%, while the top 1% as a whole climbed from 22.8% to 31.9%.

Busts fall hardest on those with the least cushion. The 2008 housing crash crushed the value of ordinary households’ main asset, and the bottom 50%’s share eventually fell to a record low of 0.4% before recovering to 2.5% today.

Over the full period, no group lost more ground than the upper-middle 40%, households between the 50th and 90th percentiles, whose share slid from 35.7% to 29.2% as home values trailed the stock market.

Wealth Distribution by Income Segment (1989-2025)

See all the data for the last 36 years below:

Time Period
Top 0.1%
Top 1%
(excl. top 0.1%)
Top 10%
(excl. top 1%)
Upper-Middle 40%
(excl. top 10%)
Bottom 50%
Q3 1989
8.6%
14.2%
38.0%
35.7%
3.5%
Q4 1989
8.7%
14.2%
37.9%
35.7%
3.4%
Q1 1990
8.6%
14.1%
37.7%
36.1%
3.5%
Q2 1990
8.7%
14.2%
37.6%
36.1%
3.4%
Q3 1990
8.5%
14.0%
37.3%
36.7%
3.5%
Q4 1990
8.7%
14.1%
37.2%
36.4%
3.6%
Q1 1991
8.9%
14.2%
37.0%
36.3%
3.5%
Q2 1991
8.8%
14.2%
36.9%
36.5%
3.5%
Q3 1991
8.8%
14.3%
36.6%
36.6%
3.7%
Q4 1991
9.1%
14.4%
36.5%
36.3%
3.7%
Q1 1992
9.0%
14.4%
36.3%
36.5%
3.8%
Q2 1992
8.9%
14.3%
36.3%
36.7%
3.8%
Q3 1992
8.9%
14.1%
36.2%
36.7%
4.1%
Q4 1992
9.2%
14.3%
36.1%
36.4%
4.0%
Q1 1993
9.5%
14.5%
36.1%
36.1%
3.8%
Q2 1993
9.6%
14.5%
36.0%
36.1%
3.8%
Q3 1993
9.8%
14.7%
35.7%
36.0%
3.8%
Q4 1993
10.1%
14.8%
35.6%
35.8%
3.7%
Q1 1994
10.2%
14.9%
35.5%
35.9%
3.5%
Q2 1994
10.3%
15.0%
35.3%
35.9%
3.4%
Q3 1994
10.5%
15.1%
35.0%
35.9%
3.5%
Q4 1994
10.8%
15.2%
34.8%
35.7%
3.5%
Q1 1995
10.9%
15.4%
34.7%
35.5%
3.5%
Q2 1995
11.1%
15.6%
34.2%
35.5%
3.6%
Q3 1995
11.4%
15.9%
33.9%
35.1%
3.7%
Q4 1995
11.5%
15.9%
34.0%
34.9%
3.6%
Q1 1996
11.5%
15.9%
34.2%
35.0%
3.5%
Q2 1996
11.4%
15.9%
34.2%
35.1%
3.4%
Q3 1996
11.3%
15.8%
34.3%
35.2%
3.4%
Q4 1996
11.4%
15.8%
34.5%
35.0%
3.4%
Q1 1997
11.2%
15.7%
34.6%
35.0%
3.4%
Q2 1997
11.4%
15.9%
34.7%
34.6%
3.4%
Q3 1997
11.4%
15.9%
34.8%
34.4%
3.4%
Q4 1997
11.5%
16.0%
35.0%
34.2%
3.3%
Q1 1998
11.7%
16.1%
35.1%
33.8%
3.3%
Q2 1998
11.7%
16.1%
35.2%
33.8%
3.2%
Q3 1998
11.2%
15.9%
35.1%
34.3%
3.5%
Q4 1998
11.5%
16.2%
35.4%
33.6%
3.3%
Q1 1999
11.2%
16.2%
35.5%
33.7%
3.4%
Q2 1999
11.3%
16.4%
35.6%
33.5%
3.2%
Q3 1999
11.0%
16.3%
35.6%
33.8%
3.3%
Q4 1999
11.3%
16.6%
35.9%
32.9%
3.2%
Q1 2000
11.2%
16.7%
35.9%
33.0%
3.2%
Q2 2000
10.9%
16.6%
35.9%
33.4%
3.2%
Q3 2000
10.7%
16.6%
35.8%
33.6%
3.3%
Q4 2000
10.4%
16.4%
35.8%
34.2%
3.2%
Q1 2001
9.9%
16.2%
35.7%
35.0%
3.2%
Q2 2001
9.9%
16.3%
35.8%
34.9%
3.1%
Q3 2001
9.6%
16.0%
35.8%
35.6%
3.1%
Q4 2001
9.7%
16.2%
35.9%
35.3%
3.0%
Q1 2002
9.6%
16.2%
36.0%
35.3%
3.0%
Q2 2002
9.4%
16.2%
36.0%
35.5%
2.9%
Q3 2002
9.0%
16.0%
36.0%
36.0%
3.0%
Q4 2002
9.0%
16.1%
36.0%
36.0%
2.9%
Q1 2003
8.8%
16.0%
36.2%
36.1%
2.8%
Q2 2003
9.2%
16.2%
36.5%
35.5%
2.6%
Q3 2003
9.2%
16.3%
36.5%
35.3%
2.6%
Q4 2003
9.5%
16.5%
36.6%
34.8%
2.6%
Q1 2004
9.9%
16.7%
36.5%
34.4%
2.5%
Q2 2004
9.9%
16.7%
36.5%
34.3%
2.6%
Q3 2004
10.0%
16.8%
36.5%
34.2%
2.5%
Q4 2004
10.2%
16.8%
36.6%
33.9%
2.5%
Q1 2005
10.2%
16.7%
36.7%
33.9%
2.5%
Q2 2005
10.4%
16.8%
36.9%
33.6%
2.4%
Q3 2005
10.5%
16.8%
36.9%
33.3%
2.5%
Q4 2005
10.5%
16.7%
36.9%
33.3%
2.5%
Q1 2006
11.0%
16.9%
37.1%
32.6%
2.4%
Q2 2006
11.0%
16.8%
37.2%
32.6%
2.4%
Q3 2006
11.1%
16.9%
37.3%
32.4%
2.4%
Q4 2006
11.3%
16.9%
37.4%
32.0%
2.3%
Q1 2007
11.6%
17.0%
37.6%
31.6%
2.2%
Q2 2007
11.7%
17.0%
37.8%
31.3%
2.1%
Q3 2007
11.9%
17.1%
38.0%
31.0%
2.0%
Q4 2007
11.8%
17.0%
38.3%
31.2%
1.7%
Q1 2008
11.6%
16.9%
38.5%
31.5%
1.5%
Q2 2008
11.4%
17.0%
38.6%
31.5%
1.5%
Q3 2008
11.2%
17.0%
38.9%
31.9%
1.2%
Q4 2008
10.6%
17.1%
38.8%
32.5%
1.0%
Q1 2009
10.3%
17.1%
39.0%
32.9%
0.7%
Q2 2009
10.3%
17.3%
39.2%
32.5%
0.7%
Q3 2009
10.6%
17.5%
39.4%
31.9%
0.7%
Q4 2009
10.5%
17.6%
39.6%
31.8%
0.6%
Q1 2010
10.6%
17.6%
39.7%
31.6%
0.5%
Q2 2010
10.5%
17.6%
39.9%
31.5%
0.5%
Q3 2010
10.8%
17.7%
40.0%
31.0%
0.5%
Q4 2010
11.0%
17.8%
40.1%
30.7%
0.4%
Q1 2011
11.3%
17.9%
40.0%
30.5%
0.4%
Q2 2011
11.3%
17.8%
39.9%
30.5%
0.4%
Q3 2011
11.1%
17.7%
39.8%
31.0%
0.4%
Q4 2011
11.3%
17.7%
39.8%
30.8%
0.4%
Q1 2012
11.5%
17.9%
39.7%
30.4%
0.4%
Q2 2012
11.6%
17.8%
39.6%
30.5%
0.6%
Q3 2012
11.8%
17.8%
39.5%
30.3%
0.6%
Q4 2012
11.8%
17.8%
39.4%
30.3%
0.7%
Q1 2013
12.0%
17.8%
39.4%
30.2%
0.7%
Q2 2013
12.0%
17.6%
39.4%
30.2%
0.8%
Q3 2013
12.1%
17.6%
39.3%
30.1%
0.9%
Q4 2013
12.2%
17.6%
39.4%
30.0%
0.9%
Q1 2014
12.3%
17.7%
39.4%
29.7%
0.9%
Q2 2014
12.5%
17.9%
39.3%
29.3%
1.0%
Q3 2014
12.5%
17.9%
39.3%
29.3%
1.0%
Q4 2014
12.6%
18.0%
39.4%
29.1%
1.0%
Q1 2015
12.6%
18.0%
39.3%
28.9%
1.0%
Q2 2015
12.7%
18.1%
39.4%
28.8%
1.1%
Q3 2015
12.5%
18.0%
39.4%
29.0%
1.1%
Q4 2015
12.5%
18.1%
39.3%
28.9%
1.2%
Q1 2016
12.5%
18.1%
39.3%
28.9%
1.2%
Q2 2016
12.6%
18.2%
39.4%
28.7%
1.2%
Q3 2016
12.6%
18.2%
39.2%
28.7%
1.3%
Q4 2016
12.5%
18.2%
39.2%
28.8%
1.3%
Q1 2017
12.5%
18.2%
39.3%
28.7%
1.3%
Q2 2017
12.5%
18.2%
39.3%
28.6%
1.4%
Q3 2017
12.5%
18.2%
39.3%
28.6%
1.4%
Q4 2017
12.5%
18.3%
39.3%
28.4%
1.4%
Q1 2018
12.4%
18.2%
39.3%
28.6%
1.5%
Q2 2018
12.3%
18.2%
39.4%
28.5%
1.6%
Q3 2018
12.4%
18.3%
39.5%
28.4%
1.5%
Q4 2018
11.9%
18.1%
39.6%
28.8%
1.6%
Q1 2019
12.3%
18.3%
39.7%
28.1%
1.6%
Q2 2019
12.3%
18.3%
39.7%
28.2%
1.6%
Q3 2019
12.1%
18.3%
39.7%
28.2%
1.7%
Q4 2019
12.4%
18.2%
39.5%
28.2%
1.7%
Q1 2020
11.7%
17.5%
39.3%
29.6%
1.8%
Q2 2020
12.3%
17.6%
38.9%
29.3%
2.0%
Q3 2020
12.5%
17.5%
38.6%
29.3%
2.1%
Q4 2020
13.0%
17.6%
38.3%
29.0%
2.2%
Q1 2021
13.2%
17.5%
37.9%
29.1%
2.3%
Q2 2021
13.4%
17.4%
37.6%
29.2%
2.3%
Q3 2021
13.5%
17.3%
37.4%
29.4%
2.4%
Q4 2021
13.7%
17.2%
37.2%
29.4%
2.4%
Q1 2022
13.6%
16.9%
36.9%
30.1%
2.5%
Q2 2022
13.1%
16.3%
36.5%
31.3%
2.7%
Q3 2022
13.2%
16.3%
36.4%
31.4%
2.7%
Q4 2022
13.4%
16.5%
36.5%
31.0%
2.6%
Q1 2023
13.5%
16.6%
36.5%
30.8%
2.6%
Q2 2023
13.5%
16.6%
36.4%
30.9%
2.6%
Q3 2023
13.4%
16.5%
36.4%
31.1%
2.5%
Q4 2023
13.6%
16.7%
36.5%
30.7%
2.5%
Q1 2024
13.7%
16.8%
36.5%
30.5%
2.5%
Q2 2024
13.7%
16.8%
36.4%
30.6%
2.5%
Q3 2024
14.0%
16.9%
36.5%
30.2%
2.4%
Q4 2024
14.0%
17.0%
36.4%
30.1%
2.5%
Q1 2025
13.9%
16.9%
36.4%
30.3%
2.5%
Q2 2025
14.1%
17.1%
36.4%
30.1%
2.5%
Q3 2025
14.4%
17.3%
36.4%
29.4%
2.5%
Q4 2025
14.5%
17.4%
36.4%
29.2%
2.5%

If you enjoyed today’s post, check out The Global Wealth Pyramid in 2025 on Voronoi.