Wealth Gap: Rich Americans Now 288 Times Wealthier Than Typical Family

Has more than doubled since 1962

The richest Americans are now 288 times wealthier than the average family. A new report by the Economic Policy Institute discovered that the wealth gap between the States' richest and the typical family has more than doubled over the past 50 years. In 1962, the top 1% only had 125 times the net worth of the median household. The trend is due to not just the rich getting richer, but the middle class also getting poorer. The median household saw its net worth drop to $57,000 in 2010, down from $73,000 in 1983. It would have been $119,000 had wealth grown equally across households. The top 1%, on the other hand, saw their average wealth grow to $16.4 million, up from $9.6 million in 1983. (CNN Money)

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