Who are the 1 percent?
By Suzy Khimm, October 6, 2011
This post has been updated.
This post has been updated.
“Occupy Wall Street says their movement
represents the ‘99 percent’ of Americans
who've been left behind, while a tiny minority of wealthy earners pull ahead. So who are
the 1 percenters?
who've been left behind, while a tiny minority of wealthy earners pull ahead. So who are
the 1 percenters?
[The top one percent of Americans earned an average of
$503,086 in 2009, according to the Tax Policy
Center, a joint project of the Urban
Institute and the Brookings Institution.
In that year, at an even higher economic level, the top one-tenth of one
percent earned $1,919,270.]
“That number is down from peak of $646,195 in 2007, before the economic crisis hit, all
adjusted to 2011 dollars, according to calculationsby the Tax Policy Center. By contrast,
the bottom 60 percent earned a maximum of $59,154 in 2010, the bottom 40 percent
earned a max of $33,870, while the bottom 20 percent earned just $16,961 at maximum.
As Annie Lowrey points out, that gap has grown wider over time: "The top 1 percent of
households took a bigger share of overall income in 2007 than they did at any time since
1928." (And in New York City, it's even more skewed: the top 1 percent have
adjusted to 2011 dollars, according to calculationsby the Tax Policy Center. By contrast,
the bottom 60 percent earned a maximum of $59,154 in 2010, the bottom 40 percent
earned a max of $33,870, while the bottom 20 percent earned just $16,961 at maximum.
As Annie Lowrey points out, that gap has grown wider over time: "The top 1 percent of
households took a bigger share of overall income in 2007 than they did at any time since
1928." (And in New York City, it's even more skewed: the top 1 percent have
an average of $3.7 million in income.)
“When you look at the
disparity in net worth, things look even more skewed. Wealthier
Americans have assets - in home equity, stocks and other investments - that generally
outstrip their cash income. Average wealth of the top 1 percent was almost $14 million in
2009, according to a 2011 report from the Economic Policy Institute. That's down from a
peak of $19.2 million in 2007.
Americans have assets - in home equity, stocks and other investments - that generally
outstrip their cash income. Average wealth of the top 1 percent was almost $14 million in
2009, according to a 2011 report from the Economic Policy Institute. That's down from a
peak of $19.2 million in 2007.
“By contrast, the poorest households were experiencing
declines in net worth even before
the recession hit. In 2007, the bottom 20 percent of households had an average
(negative!) net worth of -$13,800 in 2007, which fell further to -$27,200 in 2009.
Altogether, "average wealth of the bottom 80 percent was just $62,900 in 2009 - a
dropoff of $40,900 from 2007," EPI writes. That means the wealthiest 1 percent held an
an average of 225 times the wealth of the average median household group in 2009 – a ratio
that was 125 in 1962.”
the recession hit. In 2007, the bottom 20 percent of households had an average
(negative!) net worth of -$13,800 in 2007, which fell further to -$27,200 in 2009.
Altogether, "average wealth of the bottom 80 percent was just $62,900 in 2009 - a
dropoff of $40,900 from 2007," EPI writes. That means the wealthiest 1 percent held an
an average of 225 times the wealth of the average median household group in 2009 – a ratio
that was 125 in 1962.”
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