Wealth (total assets minus total debt) is an important indicator of economic well being. Income alone does not provide a complete picture of the resources people have for cop­ing with unforeseen events such as losing a job or an unexpected illness. We measure wealth and asset ownership to understand the economic health of households in the United States.

In order for the country to know what is needed—how folks are doing and where they need help—we must conduct surveys such as the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) to produce that information.

Because our country is so populous (over 300 million people), we can only survey a scientific sample of the whole population. Thus, your answers to this survey represent thousands of Americans!

Americans work hard everyday, achieving triumphs and facing struggles. By studying both our successes and setbacks, we can help our nation make informed decisions. By law, all personal information collected for this study is kept strictly confidential.

Thank you for participating in this survey, and for helping to represent our nation’s most important asset…People Just Like You.

Data from SIPP are used to evaluate changes in:

• Income
• Movement into and out of government assistance programs
• Effects of our changing family and social situations for individuals and households

For more information, visit SIPP online at:  www.census.gov/sipp

SIPP measures how wealth varies across the U.S. Population. In 2013:

• 25 percent of households had wealth of $3,990 or less.
• The median (average) household had wealth of $80,039.
• 25 percent of households had wealth of $318,824 or greater. 

SIPP measures how wealth varies across social and economic characteristics.

Using data from 2013, we found the following:

Race: The median wealth of Non-Hispanic

White householders (the person who owns or rents a home) is about 14 times that of Black householders.

Health Insurance: The median wealth of households in which all members had health insurance for the entire year was about 11 times that of households in which anyone went at least one month without health insurance coverage.

SIPP also measures assets and their composition of wealth for U.S. households. In 2013:

• Home equity (the value of one’s home minus all debts against it) was the largest share of wealth, accounting for 32.2 percent of net worth owned by households.
• Retirement accounts (such as 401(k) and IRA accounts) were the second largest share of total net worth at 26.8 percent. 

Click here to access the full Brochure PDF with images and charts and graphs.