Only the Top 1% Gained a Bigger Share of U.S. Wealth While Prices Kept Climbing, Fed Data Show
Federal Reserve data show household wealth jumped 16.5% since the end of the Biden administration — but only the top 1% gained a larger slice of the pie, as home and grocery costs stayed painfully high.
The United States is in the middle of a historic investment boom powered by artificial intelligence — but almost all of the gains are landing at the very top, according to Federal Reserve data reported by Reuters.
Between the end of former President Joe Biden’s administration and the second quarter of 2026, only the top 1% of households gained a bigger slice of the national wealth pie, the Fed data show. From the 99th percentile down, every group’s share shrank. The AI buildout is driving a level of investment set to eclipse the previous telecommunications boom and national projects like the construction of the rail and highway networks, Reuters reported.
Total household wealth did rise — jumping 16.5%, or about $26 trillion — but less than half a trillion dollars of that went to the least-wealthy half of households, a gain of about 10%.
Prices still bite
While wealth climbed, the cost of living stayed a grind. Trump’s 2024 campaign promised prices would fall from the start of his term; instead, over the last 20 months or so, prices rose and inflation rebounded from its level in his first months, driven by import tariffs, energy costs tied to the war with Iran, and the AI boom.
Hourly wage growth and the Consumer Price Index have been increasing at about the same pace, but headline prices — gasoline, ground beef — have soared. Home mortgage rates have jumped more than a full percentage point in the past year, deepening an already unaffordable housing market.
Spending holds — for now
Americans keep spending: the amount of money households pay for goods and services is rising faster in dollar terms than before the pandemic. But on an inflation-adjusted basis, “real” spending is growing at about the same rate as before the pandemic — the gap between the two is what inflation takes.
Research by major banks and the Richmond Federal Reserve suggests spending at the lower end of the income and wealth distribution is at least holding up, and New York Fed studies of household credit show little evidence of a credit crisis among the less well off yet. Still, economists question whether growth can stay sustainable if the division of wealth keeps getting more skewed.
Reporting based on coverage by Reuters.
