A $1 million wealth gap now divides white families from Black and Hispanic ones, research shows

The average wealth gap between white families and Black and Hispanic ones reached a new high in 2022, according to a new report by the Urban Institute.

The average wealth gap between white families and Black and Hispanic ones reached a new high in 2022, topping $1 million in household wealth, according to a new report. 

New research by the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan think tank focused on economic and social policy research, found that the average wealth of white families in 2022 reached a record high of over $1.3 million, compared to about $227,000 for Hispanic families and $211,000 for Black families. This report marks the first time the institute has recorded a seven-figure disparity in average wealth for both Black and Hispanic households.

The median wealth for white families was $284,000, compared to $62,000 for Hispanic families and $44,000 for Black families. 

“Inequities measured at the median will give you a better sense of the comparisons across typical families, but inequities measured at the mean will give you a better sense of the macro-level disparities in wealth accumulation in this country — generally, and by race,” said Madeline Brown, a senior policy associate at the Urban Institute. She added that both numbers are important to consider because they are the result of structural racism.

“One million dollars in a gap indicates that we still have severe racial wealth inequity in this country,” Brown said. That lifetime difference in accruing wealth severely affects families’ ability to “buy a home, invest in their children’s college, invest in their children’s businesses, support their families,” she added.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/1-million-wealth-gap-white-black-hispanic-families-rcna149252

---