Rich Still Getting Richer

The latest data from the Congressional Budget Officer for the year 2013 is in.  Unsurprisingly it shows that the rich are still getting richer, but the rest of the nation's wealth is stagnant or declining.

The top 10% of families -- those who had at least $942,000 -- held 76% of total wealth. The average amount of wealth in this group was $4 million. Everyone else in the top 50% of the country accounted for 23% of total wealth, with an average of $316,000 per family. That leaves just 1% of the total pie for the entire bottom half of the population. The average held was $36,000 for families that fell in the 26th to 50th percentiles. But if they fell in the bottom quarter, they had zero wealth and in fact, were $13,000 in debt on average, CBO found. . . . 

Families at the 90th percentile saw their wealth grow by 54% between 1989 and 2013. Those at the 50th percentile only experienced a 4% rise during the same period. And those at the 25th percentile actually saw their wealth drop by 6%.

In fact, within the top 10% of families by wealth, there is probably still great inequality between the one percenters and the rest of the top 10%, both in absolute amount and in wealth growth.