Wealth Concentration - US

Access to wealth in the U.S. is very unequal, as recent protest movements such as Occupy Wall Street (OWS) reminded us. Wealth can be measured as:
1. net worth: total assets less total debts; or
2. financial wealth: non-housing wealth such as stocks, bonds, retirement accounts, savings accounts.

In 2010:
1. the top 1% of wealth owners held more than 34% of net worth;
2. the top 1% of financial asset owners held more than 35% of financial wealth.

Wealth and Income
To better understand wealth concentration, it can be helpful to compare income and wealth ownership. In contrast to wealth (defined above), income refers to flows of money into the household as in wages, salaries, government transfer payments, and gifts.
An individual's religious participation and affiliation can have both direct and indirect effects on asset ownership and wealth accumulation. Cultural patterns that accompany religious participation often produce behaviors that in turn have consequences for wealth inequality.

from here


Figure 1: Religion and Median Net Worth

Data comes from the NLSY 1979 Cohort. Median 2007 net worth by childhood religion

from here

Searches for above sectors by % of total population show less than 3% Jewish.