U.S. ECONOMY > The Workforce > Income & Employment Statistics > Employment, Unemployment and Earnings

Asset Ownership of Households: 1995 Highlights

• Median household net worth⁽¹⁾ in 1995 was $40,200, a figure not significantly different statistically from the 1993 median household net worth of $39,590 (in 1995 dollars).⁽²⁾ Underlying this apparent stability were offsetting changes in the median household values of specific asset types.
• Median household asset values of stocks, rental property, vehicle equity, and Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA and Keogh accounts) experienced significant increases between 1993 and 1995.
• The median household value of U.S. Savings Bonds and interest-earning assets held at financial institutions fell significantly during the same period.
• Median home equity for households was $50,000 in 1995, not significantly different from the 1993 median household home equity of $49,156 (in 1995 dollars).
• In 1995, median household net worth varied from $5,000 for households in the lowest income quintile to $116,232 for households in the highest income quintile.
• In 1995, median household net worth generally increased with the age of the householder, rising from $7,428 for householders under the age of 35, to $92,399 for householders 65 years of age and older.
• In 1995, the household median net worth was $49,030 for households with a White householder, $7,073 for households with a Black householder, and $7,255 for households with a Hispanic householder. ⁽³⁾ Hispanic households and Black households had significantly less net worth than White households, but the difference between Hispanic and Black households was not significant.
• Married-couple households, the largest category of households, had the highest median net worth holdings in 1995, $64,694. Male householders had a significantly lower median net worth in 1995 of $16,346; female householders had an even lower one of $14,949 .
• In 1995, households with a householder having less than 12 years of education had a median net worth of $20,092, compared with $80,416 for households whose householder had 4 or more years of college.
• In 1995, households with householders having a job for the entire 4-month reference period had a median household net worth of $33,848, compared with $11,298 for households with householders having no labor force activity during this time.

1. The median net worth is the amount which divides the net worth distribution into two equal groups, one having household net worth less than the median amount and the other having net worth above the median. 2. See Appendix B for a technical description of the changes in median estimation used in this report compared to earlier reports.

3. Hispanics may be of any race. The race or Hispanic origin of the householder designates the race or Hispanic origin of the household.