Stories
The numbers behind American income and wealth, explained in plain language, grounded in Federal Reserve and Census Bureau data, illustrated with interactive charts.
In 2025, 22 percent of student-loan balances held by 50-plus borrowers entered serious delinquency. Twice the 18-29 rate. The age group with the most US household wealth is also the age group furthest behind on its student loans.
In 1989, when the oldest Boomers were 43, their generation held 19.5 cents of every dollar of American household wealth. In 2024, when the oldest Millennials turned 43, theirs holds 10 cents. Same age. Half the wealth.
College graduates now control 76% of all US household wealth, up from 50% in 1989. The standard explanation is wages. Federal Reserve data points to something more specific: who owns the stock market.
The Black-to-White wealth ratio peaked at $5.52 per $100 in 2016, then fell to $3.96 by 2025. Both moves had the same driver. Federal Reserve data, tracked quarterly since 1989, shows the mechanism.