Methodology
Data Sources
This site includes federal survey data and modeled estimates of wealth. While national wealth figures are commonly sourced from well-established federal surveys, wealth data at the sub-national level is extremely limited. To address this gap, we use statistical modeling techniques, national wealth patterns, and local population characteristics to estimate metro area and multi-state regional wealth values. All wealth figures are reported in 2018 dollars. Below are the primary data sources used:
Survery of Income and Program Participation (SIPP)
The SIPP(opens in a new tab) is a nationally representative longitudinal panel survey administered by the U.S. Census Bureau which collects detailed information on assets, debts, income, employment, and other household and family characteristics.
While the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) is generally considered the gold standard for national wealth data, SIPP has a larger sample size and includes state and metropolitan status identifiers, which supports small-area estimation for subgroups. Reported national figures of wealth are sourced directly from the SIPP survey, while local and regional estimates of wealth are produced through statistical modeling.
This site uses Wave 1 of the 2018 SIPP due to its completeness. Later waves of the SIPP survey have been impacted by data collection issues (including sample attrition, the 2019 government furlough, and the COVID-19 pandemic), which limit the quality of disaggregated estimates. To ensure the best-quality subgroup estimates of wealth, we rely on the 2018 sample, though we are currently assessing the quality of the 2024 SIPP release to determine whether future updates can incorporate the more recent data.
American Community Survey Public Use Microdata Sample (ACS-PUMS)
The ACS(opens in a new tab) is a continuous nationwide survey administered by the U.S. Census Bureau, that samples roughly 1 percent of U.S. households annually. We access ACS-PUMS via IPUMS-USA(opens in a new tab), which provides harmonized, downloadable microdata for analysis.
The ACS is the most comprehensive national source of public microdata with a wide overlap of demographic variables with the SIPP, enabling the estimation of local wealth data through predictive modeling. All regional and local wealth estimates are based on 2018 ACS-PUMS. It is also the source for all additional demographic breakdowns displayed on regional and metro pages.