US Wealth Distro Getting Worse (Patreon)

The chart clearly shows that wealth distribution is highly skewed towards the top end of the spectrum and that the disparity has been either constant or widening over time, which is often characterized as "getting worse" when discussing economic equality or fairness.

This stacked area chart shows the distribution of assets in the United States, broken down into different percentile groups of wealth over more than 30 yeears. 

• Top 0.1%: The wealthiest 0.1% of the population.
• 0.1% to 1%: Those who fall between the top 0.1% and 1%.
• Next 9%: The group ranging from the top 1% to 10%.
• Next 40%: Representing those between the top 10% and 50%.
• Bottom 50%: The bottom half of the population in terms of asset distribution.

Trends: The chart indicates that the top 10% (Top 0.1%, 0.1% to 1%, and Next 9% combined) hold a large and growing share of the assets. The top 0.1% alone has seen an increase in their share of assets, which is indicated at the top right of the chart as 11.4%. The 0.1% to 1% group holds 16.9%, and the Next 9% holds 35.6%, as of the latest data point on the chart.

What is truly tragic, is the bottom 50%: The bottom 50% of the population holds the smallest share, which has been shrinking over the time period shown. The latest figure on the chart shows they hold 5.9% of the assets.

Data Source: The information is sourced from the Federal Reserve.