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Labor Force and Transfer Program Statistics Branch
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Net Worth of Nation's Households Unchanged,
Census Bureau Reports
The median net worth of U.S. households stood at $40,200 in 1995, not
statistically different from 1993, according to results of a survey
released today by the Commerce Department's Census Bureau.
Household net worth is defined as the value of assets, minus debts. Half
of all households had net worth above the median figure and half were
below. Included in net worth were interest-earning assets, checking
accounts, stocks and mutual fund shares, real estate, motor vehicles,
value of business or profession and mortgages held by sellers.
The data should not be confused with Census 2000 results, which will be
released over the next three years.
"The apparent stability of the household wealth resulted from offsetting
changes in the median household values of specific asset types," said
Census Bureau analyst Thomas Palumbo in summarizing the report,
Household Net Worth and Asset Ownership: 1995.
For example, asset holdings in stocks, rental property, vehicle equity
and retirement accounts (IRA and Keogh) experienced significant increases
between 1993 and 1995. Decreases occurred in the median household values
of interest-earning assets held at financial institutions and U.S. Savings
Bonds.
Median home equity the largest part of household net worth was $50,000
in 1995, not statistically different from the 1993 value of $49,156,
adjusted for inflation in 1995 dollars.
In 1995, median net worth holdings for married-couple householders
($64,694) and female householders ($14,949) were not statistically
different from 1993. The median net worth for male householders was
$16,346, up from $14,219 in 1993.
Other highlights:
In 1995, the net worth for households with a White householder was
$49,030; for households with an African American householder, it was
$7,073; and for those with a Hispanic householder, it was $7,255.
Hispanics may be of any race.
-- The median net worth of households generally increased with the age
of the householder, rising from $7,428 for those under 35 to $92,399
for householders age 65 and older.
-- After home equity, interest-earning assets at financial institutions
made up the largest share of net worth, although this share decreased
slightly from 11.4 percent in 1993 to 9.6 percent in 1995. The median
value of household holdings in these assets was $2,537 in 1995.
-- The percentage of household net worth held in IRA and Keogh accounts
jumped from 6.7 percent in 1993 (median value of $13,677 in 1995
dollars) to 8.3 percent in 1995 ($15,000).
-- The real median value of stock and mutual funds held by households
increased from $7,331 in 1993 to $9,000 in 1995, although the
ownership rate of these assets held steady at around 21 percent.
-- Vehicles made up a higher proportion of households' overall net
worth in 1995 than in 1993: 8.3 percent compared with 6.4 percent.
The real median value of holdings in vehicles grew from $5,414 in
1993 to $6,675 in 1995.
The data are from a panel of the Survey of Income and Program
Participation first interviewed in 1993. As in all surveys, the data are
subject to sampling variability and other sources of error.
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