Income and Wealth Inequality in the United States: An Update Including the 2022 Wave

Moritz Kuhn and José-Víctor Ríos-Rull

No 33823, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: We provide a comprehensive overview of earnings, income and wealth inequality based on the 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances from the United States. We document the current state of inequality and its evolution over the last three decades organizing the data along key demographic dimensions including age, education, and marital status. The 2022 data reveal that wealth remains highly concentrated, with the top 1% holding 35% of total wealth down from a peak of 39% in 2016. This recent decline in wealth concentration—occurring despite rising income inequality—reflects strong housing price appreciation that disproportionately benefited middle-class households. We extend previous analyses with new perspectives on inequality, including: (1) the role of labor market segmentation in generating wealth disparities beyond standard employment categories; (2) differences in wealth accumulation across birth cohorts showing that younger generations accumulate less wealth than their predecessors at comparable ages; (3) disparities associated with family structure, particularly the financial vulnerability of single-parent households; and (4) heterogeneity in self-reported savings motives, with precautionary savings dominating for lower-wealth households while retirement planning and bequests become more prominent at the top of the distribution. These findings enhance our understanding of the multifaceted nature of inequality and offer essential inputs for structural models and policy design.

JEL-codes: A1 C0 E24 Y10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-05
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