The rich got richer. The poor got poorer. Surprise, nobody’s surprised.
The Federal Reserve’s latest data is basically a fresh coat of paint on an old problem: wealth in America is getting more top-heavy. From 2022 to 2025, the richest 10% saw median wealth rise 19% to $4.94 million, while the poorest 25% watched theirs fall 56% to just $1,700.
That’s not a typo. That’s the economic version of a treadmill speeding up while some people are still trying to find the door.
Why investors should care
The data helps explain a very familiar market split:
- Wealthier households own most of the stocks, so when markets rise, they tend to feel fancier.
- Lower-income families are taking more pain from higher borrowing costs, late payments, and sticky everyday expenses.
- That makes “the consumer” a misleading phrase. There isn’t one consumer. There are several, and they’re living very different lives.
AmEx and Walmart: two sides of the same checkout lane
American Express is benefiting from the upscale end of the story. Its cardholder purchases rose 9% in the second quarter, and executives said they aren’t seeing a broad slowdown.
Walmart, meanwhile, is seeing a more mixed customer. Revenue is still growing, but shoppers are making trade-offs, and the company is leaning hard on price rollbacks to keep traffic moving.
Big picture: this is the kind of data that says the economy can look sturdy from one balcony and shaky from the sidewalk.