The wealthiest 10% of Americans own 93% of stocks even with market participation at a record high

• The richest Americans own the vast majority of the US stock market, according to Fed data.
• The top 10% of Americans held 93% of all stocks, the highest level ever recorded.
• Meanwhile, the bottom 50% of Americans held just 1% of all stocks in the third quarter of 2023.

The wealthiest Americans have never owned so much of the stock market, with the top 10% now holding a record 93% of US equities, according to Federal Reserve data.

Americans broadly have been participating in the stock market at a higher rate, with a record 58% of households owning stocks in 2023, according to the Fed's Survey of Consumer Finances.

Still, stock ownership is skewed toward the top: by comparison, the bottom 50% of Americans owned just 1% of all  stocks and mutual fund shares in the third quarter, central bank data shows.

While the pandemic period drove a rise in retail trading as Americans had time on their hands working remotely, as well as cash to put to work from government stimulus checks, it doesn't seem to have titled ownership much further away from the richest Americans. Some experts have also said that many retail traders cashed out during the brutal bear market of 2022, unable to stomach steep losses. 

In any event, stock market booms have traditionally produced the largest rewards for those who are already wealthy. That's because the wealthiest US households have most of their assets tied up in equities, while most middle-class families have their assets tied up in housing, researchers said in a 2020 study.

In the third quarter, the bottom 50% of households held $4.8 trillion of real estate assets, but just $0.3 trillion worth in stocks, Fed data shows. 

The top 1%, by comparison, held over $16 trillion in stocks, and just over $6 trillion in real estate assets.

Stocks have also seen monster returns over the past 10 years, when interest rates were ultra-low and helped drive handsome equity returns. Over the past decade, the S&P 500 rose by 155%, with the benchmark index gaining 24% the last year alone, largely fueled by cooling inflation and expectations from investors for Fed rate cuts in 2024.