Washington, D.C. — The wealth gap between the richest Americans and the bottom half of the country has widened significantly since the start of the Trump administration, according to a new analysis from the Center for American Progress.
Federal Reserve data show that from the fourth quarter of 2024 through the first quarter of 2026, the wealthiest 0.1 percent gained an average of $9.6 million in wealth per household, while households in the bottom 50 percent gained just $1,200. The top 1 percent, meanwhile, gained an average of $1.8 million per household. That means the wealthiest 0.1 percent gained more than 8,000 times as much wealth per household than did households in the bottom half of the distribution, after adjusting for inflation.
The growing divide in household wealth has been driven in large part by soaring stock and business valuations that disproportionately benefit the wealthiest households, while middle- and lower-wealth households continue to carry high levels of debt. At least partially driving this wealth gap are the Trump administration’s tax cuts for wealthy business owners. Meanwhile, proposed rules allowing ordinary Americans’ 401(k) savings to be invested in risky assets put the nest eggs of the middle class at greater risk.
“The gains of the past year and a half have been overwhelmingly concentrated among the wealthiest Americans, while millions of families are still struggling with high levels of debt,” said Cristina Tello-Trillo, chief economist at the Center for American Progress and co-author of the analysis. “Stock market benefits are not being shared equally, and the tax code has been flipped upside down to provide giveaways to wealthy business owners. The wealth gap is growing, making it harder for families in the middle and at the bottom to build lasting financial security.”
Among the analysis’ key findings:
- The wealthiest households have pulled further ahead. Since the end of 2024, the top 0.1 percent gained an average of $9.6 million per household, compared with just $1,200 for the bottom 50 percent. The top 1 percent gained nearly $2 million per household.
- Stock and business gains are driving wealth growth at the top. About 71 percent of the assets held by the ultrawealthy were in corporate stock and private businesses in the first quarter of 2026. Since the end of 2024, the top 0.1 percent’s real wealth from corporate stock and private businesses increased by $1.35 trillion, or by about $9.9 million on average per household.
- The bottom half owns only a small share of aggregate assets. Despite representing nearly 68 million households, the bottom 50 percent holds just 5 percent of aggregate assets, while the top 10 percent holds about two-thirds.
- Families outside the top remain heavily reliant on housing and other physical assets. The bottom half holds 47 percent of its assets in real estate and 20 percent in consumer durables, such as cars and home appliances, which are more likely to depreciate over time and which have been hit with new Trump administration tariffs.
- For some of the middle class, debt is back at Great Recession-era highs. After adjusting for inflation, households in the 50th to 90th percentiles now hold roughly as much aggregate debt ($8.8 trillion in the first quarter of 2026) as they did during the Great Recession, as do households in the 90th to 99th percentiles ($4.1 trillion in the first quarter of 2026). Debt held by the bottom half of households has not reached Great Recession highs, but those households still have substantially more debt compared with the early to mid-2000s.
Read the full analysis: “Wealth Inequality Has Grown During the Trump Administration” by Cristina Tello-Trillo, Sara Estep, and Corey Husak
For more information on this topic or to speak with an expert, please contact Christian Unkenholz at [email protected].