By the Numbers: America’s Wealth Disparity

$1.2 trillion

The amount added to the wealth of the 500 richest people in the world in 2019

400

The number of the richest Americans who hold the same amount of wealth as the bottom 150 million Americans

.00025

Percent, the portion of the population those 400 people represent

$349,905

Annual income required to be among the top 1 percent in Wisconsin

$115 billion

The net worth of Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon

$100,000

The median American family’s net worth

5.7

Percent, the share of the nation’s wealth that went to the bottom 60 percent of American earners in 1987

2.1

Percent, the share of the nation’s wealth that 60 percent of Americans owned in 2014

Percentage of Americans who have negative or zero wealth, meaning their debts are equal to or greater than their assets

Sources: The Atlantic, Washington Post