Household wealth and asset ownership: 1984.

Abstract

This report presents data on the wealth of US households in 1984. The information was collected in September-December 1984 in a supplement to the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP). The median household net worth in 1984 was $32,670. Households have a wide array of assets available for investments. Overall, home equity constituted the largest share of net worth. Homeownership was reported by 2/3 of all households and accounted for 41% of total net worth. Homeowners had a median equity of $40,600 in their homes. Interest-earning assets were the next most important asset type. Deposits at financial institutions accounted for 14% of net worth, and other interest-earning assets made up another 3%. Nearly 72% of households had interest-earning assets at financial institutions; the median amount of their deposits was $3070. Only 9% of households reported ownership of other interest-earning assets, but the median amount held was $9470. Stocks and mutual fund shares, owned by 20% of households, with average holdings of $3890, accounted for 7% of net worth. Median net worth increased with income from $5080 for households with monthly incomes less than $900 to $123,470 for households with incomes of $4000 or more. Net worth increased from $5760 for the youngest households to $73,660 for households in the 55-to-64-year-old category and then declined to $55,180 for the oldest group (75 years and over). White householders had a median net worth of $39,140, while the figure for black householders was $3400. Households with a householder of Spanish origin had median holdings of $4910. Married-couple households were the largest category of households and, overall, had the largest median net worth holdings ($50,120), while female-headed households had a median net worth ($13,890) that was approximately 1/4 that of married-couple households.