Coalition for Financial Security: Facts & Figures

Facts & Figures

The wealthiest 25 percent of U.S. households owns 87 percent ($43.6 trillion in 2004) of the wealth in the United States, while the bottom quartile holds no net wealth at all. [Di, Zhu Xiao. (2007) Growing Wealth, Inequality, and Housing in the United States. Washington D.C.: Joint Center for Housing Studies.]
17 million Americans do not have a bank account (approx. 7.7 percent of all households). Nearly 20 percent of all U.S. households earning $30,000 or less per year did not have a bank account. [David Ellis, CNN Money, 12/2/2009]
Nearly one of every five African-American or Hispanic households does not have a checking or savings account. [David Ellis, CNN Money, 12/2/2009]
58 percent of African Americans surveyed by Prudential in 2011 did not use or have access to financial advisors. [Prudential, 6/14/2011]
In 2007, 6 percent of families reported that their spending habits usually exceeds their income; 16.1 percent reported that the two are usually about the same. Just 35.7 percent reported that they typically save income “left over” at the end of the year. [Federal Reserve 2009: Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2004 to 2007: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances]
Over the 2004-2007 period, estimates show an annual saving rate of less than 1 percent. [Federal Reserve 2009: Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2004 to 2007: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances]
As of 2007, only 55.9 percent of working heads of families were eligible to participate in any type of job-related pension. [Federal Reserve 2009: Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2004 to 2007: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances]
26 percent of white children, 52 percent of African-American children, and 54 percent of Hispanic children start life in households without any resources for investment. [Boshara, R. (January 2003). The $6,000 Solution. The Atlantic Monthly]
Nationwide, 25 percent of white children and 50 percent of nonwhite children grow up in households without any significant savings or resources for investment. [Jim Sanders, 2007, Corporation for Enterprise Development,]
About two-thirds of households have savings of less than $10,000. [The Atlanta Journal Constitution, December 7, 2003]
As of 2003, the median Hispanic household had an annual income of $26,000; the median black family had an annual income of $28,000; and the median white family had an annual income of $48,000. [Atlanta Mortgage Examiner, 11/18/2009]
As of 2004, the median household net worth (including home value) was $5,500 for Hispanic families, $11,800 for black families, and $118,300 for white families. [Atlanta Mortgage Examiner, 11/18/2009]
African American households have a median income of $30,134, Hispanic households have a median income of $34,241, and white households have a median income of $48,977. [U.S. Census Bureau (2006): “Median household income according to certain demographic characteristics”]
African American families saw a 24.1 percent decline in their median net worth from 2004 ($22,400) to 2007 ($17,000). [Federal Reserve 2009: Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2004 to 2007: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances]
At the current rate it will take African-Americans until 2099 to reach parity in median wealth with whites. [The State of the Dream 2004: Enduring Disparities in Black and White]