Average net worth

[Marthe48]

I saw a headline about average net worth on Yahoo. How accurate are the numbers in this article? https://www.yahoo.com/news/average-net-worth-americans-age-193418831.html

I'm comfortable, but I don't think I'm that comfortable!

[jimfields33]

1. I'm definitely above the median but nowhere near the average according to my age group

Those numbers are shockingly high.

[Marthe48]

2. That's what I thought

Might be the area where I live, but those numbers do seem high

[Happy Hoosier]

10. They are distorted by the ULTRA rich.

Throw in a few billionaires, and the average number climbs.

Like you, I am well above the median, but not at the "average" I'd be interested in what the average looks like if you dropped off the top and bottom 1%

[True Dough]

3. Marthe, I can lend you $20 if it helps

Just let me know.

[Marthe48]

4. That's so kind of you

I appreciate your thoughtfulness. I just offered to give someone $20 on Friday, haven't heard back if they got enough to get thru a rough spot. If I ever need help, I'll know where to come Thank you!

[Silent Type]

5. Good article. The average net worth doesn't mean a lot. The Median is believable if home equity

is considered. Although, I think it’s a bit lower than displayed.

From 90 article. There is also a table by age.

“ Between 2019 and 2022, the median net worth of U.S. households surged 37% to $192,900, according to the report. The mean, or average, net worth increased 23% to $1,063,700.

“You may be wondering why the mean is so much higher than the median net worth. That’s because the wealthiest households tend to drive the average up.”

[bucolic_frolic]

6. There are drivers that feed net worth, but even they are not a guarantee

Education, skills or technological innovation, work ethic, spending and debt habits, location, location, location.

The book "Poverty and Place" a recent one by Princeton sociologists shows how being in a backwater means you remain in a backwater. Poverty statistically, en masse, has a powerful location element.

[walkingman]

7. Anyone that has ever taken a statistics class (especially business statistics)

would know that this article is meaningless.

There are lies, damned lies and statistics.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

8. Those numbers, especially the median,

vary widely depending on what state, what city, what precise area you are looking at. I'm guessing rural Mississippi or Alabama has a much lower median. San Francisco and all the other major cities, will be much higher.

[Marthe48]

9. If I moved across the Ohio to WV

I'd be considered wealthy.

[AnnaLee]

11. The gap in median and average - Statista Research Summary

https://www.statista.com/statistics/203961/wealth-distribution-for-the-us/
U.S. wealth distribution Q3 2023
"In the third quarter of 2023, 66.6 percent of the total wealth in the United States was owned by the top 10 percent of earners. In comparison, the lowest 50 percent of earners only owned 2.6 percent of the total wealth."

So, the other 40% have 30.8% of the wealth. (Probably has the same skewed bias as the total population.)