U.S. median family net worth by race

In 2016, the most recent year for this Fed data, the median white household had a net worth of $171,000. By contrast, the median Black household had a net worth of $17,100. The median Hispanic/Latino household had a net worth of $20,600, while households in the Other category (which includes “Asian, American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, other race, and all respondents reporting more than one racial identification”) had a net worth of $64,700.

U.S. median net worth by race ($ in thousands)

	2001	2004	2007	2010	2013	2016
Black	19.4	20.4	21.1	16.0	13.2	17.1
White	122.8	141.0	171.3	130.5	142.0	171.0
Hispanic / Latino	11.4	15.3	21.1	16.2	13.8	20.6
Other	52.6	70.9	60.7	42.6	41.2	64.7

Between 1989 and 2001, there was an improvement in the wealth gap between Black and White households. In 1989, White households had a median net worth that was 17.8 times the median Black household. That multiple improved to 6.3 by 2001. However, that gap has since widened. In 2016, the median White household had a net worth that was 10 times that of the median Black household.

The gap isn’t quite as wide with the other racial groups in the Federal Reserve’s classifications. However, the data on those groups also shows that wealth disparities are fairly consistent over time.

Wealth gap by race, based on median net worth

	2001	2004	2007	2010	2013	2016
White / Black	6.3x	6.9x	8.1x	8.2x	10.8x	10.0x
White / Hispanic	10.8x	9.2x	8.1x	8.1x	10.3x	8.3x
White / Other	2.3x	2.0x	2.8x	3.1x	3.4x	2.6x