Home / Business and Economy / Wealth Inequality Exposed: If U.S. Stocks Were Evenly Distributed, Every Person Would Have $190,300
Wealth Inequality Exposed: If U.S. Stocks Were Evenly Distributed, Every Person Would Have $190,300
13 Nov
Summary
- Total U.S. stock market value: $62.8 trillion
- U.S. population: 330 million
- Equal distribution would give $190,300 per person
- Top 1% own 49.9% of stock wealth, bottom 50% own 1%
In mid-2025, the U.S. stock market was valued at a staggering $62.8 trillion. If this wealth was distributed equally among the country's 330 million people, each person would hold approximately $190,300 worth of stocks. This hypothetical scenario would mean a family of four would collectively own $761,200 in stock wealth, and a classroom of 25 students would hold a combined $4.76 million.
However, the actual distribution of stock ownership in America tells a very different story. The bottom 50% of the population, comprising 165 million people, own just 1% of the stock market's total value - around $628 billion, or roughly $3,800 per person. In stark contrast, the top 1% of Americans, a mere 3.3 million people, hold an astonishing 49.9% of the stock market wealth, amounting to $31.3 trillion, or approximately $9.5 million per person in the top 1%.
This vast wealth gap highlights the stark inequality that permeates the U.S. financial system. Even middle-class and upper-middle-class households, representing the 50th to 90th wealth percentiles, own only around 10% of the stock market's total value, or about $47,576 per household on average. Only the wealthiest 10% would see their stock holdings decrease under an equal distribution scenario.
