The Daily Money: Americans wealth soared over the pandemic

Happy Thursday, Daily Money readers! This is Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy bringing you today’s top headlines.

I am conflicted about calling anything a silver lining of the pandemic, but Americans got a lot wealthier over the period.

The net worth of a typical family soared at a record pace from 2019 to 2022 as the government doled out unprecedented aid, Americans hunkered down amid widespread lockdowns, and stock and home values soared, according to a Federal Reserve survey.

The median net worth of U.S. families surged 37% to $192,900 over the period, adjusted for inflation -- the largest rise in the history of the Fed's Survey of Consumer Finances, which is conducted every three years.

Median income, meanwhile, grew a relatively modest 3% and debt was fairly stable, the Fed said in the report.

The gains also lifted people from all racial, income, age and education and other groups. Families that didn’t finish high school notched the largest median gain in net worth at 60%. The net worth of Black families also rose 60%, the largest among racial groups, but their median wealth totaled $44,900 in 2022, still far below $285,000 for Whites.

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