US Wealth Distribution 2024 by Category, Change Since 1989

Key points from the chart

The chart compares what US household wealth was made of in 1989 and in 2024, in seven categories, using Federal Reserve data.
Equities and mutual fund shares rose from 10% to 28% of total wealth, the largest change on the chart.
Only two categories grew: equities and 401k and other defined contribution plans (5% to 9%).
Real estate stayed the largest single category but fell from 34% to 30%. Traditional pensions fell from 17% to 12%.
The percentages are shares of net worth, which is why each year adds up to more than 100% (see the notes).

US wealth by category chart in text

Title: Change in Share of Total US Wealth by Category, 1989 to 2024. Subtitle, used as the legend: Physical Assets (black circles) vs Financial Assets (yellow squares) vs Other (blue diamonds). The chart is a slope chart with one line per category from 1989 on the left to 2024 on the right, labelled at each end.

Category	Group on chart	1989	2024	Change, points (our arithmetic)
Real estate	Physical	34%	30%	down 4
Equities and mutual fund shares	Financial	10%	28%	up 18
Other assets	Other	26%	18%	down 8
Pensions	Financial	17%	12%	down 5
Private businesses	Physical	15%	10%	down 5
401k and defined contribution plans	Financial	5%	9%	up 4
Consumer durables	Physical	9%	5%	down 4

Footer: https://4lights.substack.com/. Source: https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/dataviz/dfa/distribute/chart/. A logo of four circles in yellow and blue sits at the bottom left.

What the Federal Reserve data show

The chart’s figures come from the Federal Reserve’s Distributional Financial Accounts, part of the Financial Accounts of the United States (Z.1), which track the distribution of household wealth in the US since 1989 [1]. We downloaded the accounts’ data file and summed every group’s assets and net worth. Each category on the chart matches its share of total household net worth: in the third quarter of 1989, real estate was 33.7% of net worth and corporate equities and mutual funds 10.2%; in the first quarter of 2024, they were 30.2% and 28.2% [2]. Defined benefit pensions fell from 17.0% to 11.6%, defined contribution pensions rose from 5.0% to 9.1%, and unincorporated businesses, which the chart calls private businesses, fell from 14.5% to 10.3% (our arithmetic from [2]).

Total household net worth in the same data rose from about $20.4 trillion in the third quarter of 1989 to about $152 trillion in the first quarter of 2024, in current dollars [2]. 4 Lights, which made the chart, gives $151 trillion for early 2024 and says about 50% of US wealth is now financial, against about 32% in the late 1980s [3].

Who holds the wealth

The chart shows what wealth is made of, not who owns it. The same Federal Reserve data also split net worth by wealth group. By our sums, the top 1% of households held 22.8% of household net worth in the third quarter of 1989 and 30.4% in the first quarter of 2024, while the bottom 50% held 3.5% and 2.5% [2]. In an earlier post, 4 Lights noted that the share of wealth held by middle income households had fallen from about 37% in 1990 to 26% [4].

The trend in the chart has continued. In the second quarter of 2026, the latest quarter in the data we downloaded, corporate equities and mutual funds made up 34.8% of household net worth and real estate 26.8%, so equities have overtaken real estate as the largest category [2].

Notes on this infographic

Shares add up to more than 100%. The seven categories total 116% in 1989 and 112% in 2024. That is because they are shares of net worth, which is assets minus debts such as mortgages. The chart’s title says “share of total US wealth” without explaining this. As shares of total assets, the figures would be lower: for example, real estate was 29.2% of assets in 1989 and 26.8% in early 2024 (our arithmetic from [2]).
Which quarters. The chart does not say which quarters it uses. Its figures match the third quarter of 1989, the first quarter in the data, and the first quarter of 2024 [2].
Data revisions. The Federal Reserve revises these accounts. Our check used the data file as downloaded on 30 October 2026, and every 1989 and 2024 figure on the chart matched it after rounding.
Not financial advice. This page describes a chart of national statistics. It does not recommend any type of investment.

Questions about US household wealth

How much of US wealth is in stocks?

Corporate equities and mutual fund shares made up 28% of US household net worth in 2024, up from 10% in 1989, the largest change of any category in Federal Reserve data. By the second quarter of 2026 the share had reached 34.8%, overtaking real estate at 26.8% as the largest category [2].

How much of US household wealth is in real estate?

Real estate was 30% of US household net worth in 2024, down from 34% in 1989, though it was still the largest single category that year. These are shares of net worth, which is assets minus debts such as mortgages. As a share of total assets, real estate was lower, at 29.2% in 1989 and 26.8% in early 2024 [2].

What is the total net worth of US households?

Total US household net worth was about $152 trillion in the first quarter of 2024, in current dollars, up from about $20.4 trillion in the third quarter of 1989, according to the Federal Reserve's Distributional Financial Accounts [2]. 4 Lights, which made the chart, gives $151 trillion for early 2024 and says about 50% of US wealth is now financial, against about 32% in the late 1980s [3].

How much wealth do the top 1% own in the US?

The top 1% of US households held 30.4% of household net worth in the first quarter of 2024, up from 22.8% in the third quarter of 1989, based on sums of Federal Reserve data [2]. Over the same period the share held by the bottom 50% fell from 3.5% to 2.5% [2].