Census Report Documents the Gender Wealth Gap in Households Led by Single Individuals

A new study from the U.S. Census Bureau finds that the median wealth of U.S. households in 2019 was $118,200. Some 37 percent of household wealth was held in retirement accounts and 27 percent was in home equity. Households in which one member had a bachelor’s degree but no higher degree had median wealth of $196,800. For households where a member held a graduate or professional degree, the median wealth was $408,700.

As expected, married-couple families had higher wealth than households led by single men and women. This is due to the fact that in many instances both partners in a married-couple family are employed, have higher incomes, and participate in employee savings plans.

At all age levels, households led by a single woman have less wealth than households led by a single man. But the gender gap decreases with age. Households led by a single woman under the age of 35 had median wealth that was less than one fifth of the median wealth of families headed by a single man under the age of 35. For families led by a single woman aged 55 to 64, the median wealth was $65,650. For similarly aged single men, the median household wealth was  $83,740

The full report, The Wealth of Households, 2019, may be downloaded here.