The St. Louis Federal Reserve analyzed 2019 data, the latest available from the Federal Reserve Board’s Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF),1 on family wealth, or what a family owns minus what they owe. They based a family’s demographic characteristics on those of the survey respondent, who is generally the most financially knowledgeable person in the household.
The analysis found:
- More education was associated with more wealth for all the racial and ethnic groups considered. However, wide gaps remain at every education level, with Black and Hispanic families having less median family wealth than white families with the same education.
- Black and Hispanic families are less likely than white families to own various types of assets (e.g., homes, businesses, financial and retirement assets) and have lower-valued assets when they do.
- Stark inequities evident in various facets of Black and Hispanic families’ wealth and white family wealth point to historical barriers that continue to hamper Black and Hispanic wealth accumulation.
