Research method article
Summary
Wealth concentration can be measured in more than one way. The Wealth Reform Project currently uses two basic views: wealth shares and wealth levels.
Wealth shares show how the total wealth pie is divided. Wealth levels show how many dollars of net worth each group owns. Both views are useful, but they answer different questions.
View Wealth Share Chart View Wealth Levels Chart
What wealth shares show
A wealth share is a percentage of total household net worth. If one group holds 30 percent of household net worth, that means the group owns 30 percent of the total household wealth measured in the dataset.
Wealth shares are useful because they show concentration. They help answer questions such as:
- How much of total household net worth is held by the top 1 percent?
- How much is held by the bottom 50 percent?
- Is wealth becoming more or less concentrated over time?
- Which groups are gaining or losing share of the total?
What wealth levels show
A wealth level is a dollar amount. It shows the estimated value of net worth held by a group. Instead of asking what percentage of the pie a group owns, it asks how many dollars that group owns.
Wealth levels are useful because they show scale. A group may lose a small percentage share while still owning much more wealth in dollar terms if total household wealth has grown.
Why both are needed
Shares and levels can tell different parts of the same story. If total wealth rises, many groups may hold more dollars than before. But if one group gains a larger share of the total, wealth is still becoming more concentrated.
That is why the project uses both measures. The share chart shows how ownership is divided. The levels chart shows the dollar scale of that ownership.
| Measure | Main Question | Best Use |
|---|---|---|
| Wealth shares | How is total household wealth divided? | Studying concentration and distribution. |
| Wealth levels | How many dollars of net worth does each group hold? | Studying scale and dollar amounts over time. |
Example from the current data
In the current wealth share chart, the combined top 1 percent share of household net worth rises from 22.8% in 1989:Q3 to 31.9% in 2025:Q4. That is a change in distribution.
The wealth levels chart then helps show the dollar scale behind that distribution. It answers a different question: not just what share the group holds, but how much net worth that share represents.
How this helps reform analysis
Reform proposals should be judged partly by whether they broaden real ownership and improve household balance sheets. To do that honestly, the project needs to know both how wealth is divided and how much wealth exists in dollar terms.
A policy might raise income without building wealth. Another policy might expand ownership but only for households that already have assets. Using shares and levels together helps make those differences clearer.
Next analysis step
The next useful chart would be a simplified comparison of the combined top 1 percent and the bottom 50 percent over time. That would make the contrast easier for ordinary readers to see.