In the United States, households headed by married adults have much more wealth, on average, than those headed by single adults. And among unmarried adults, there’s a significant wealth gap between men and women.
In 2022, the typical single man had $82,100 in wealth, compared with $58,100 for the typical single woman, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.
Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to explore the gender wealth gap and identify some of the demographic factors at play.
This analysis is based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2023 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP). In addition to details on the demographic characteristics of U.S. households, SIPP reports on households’ assets and liabilities (debt).
SIPP data on wealth refers to the December of the year preceding the survey date. For example, the 2023 SIPP has wealth estimates for 2022 based on households’ net worth as of Dec. 31, 2022.
The 2023 SIPP survey included more than 17,000 households. This sample is much larger than in the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), which covered 4,595 families in 2022. Thus, unlike the SCF, SIPP makes it possible to analyze outcomes for smaller demographic groups, such as households headed by an unmarried mother with a child under 18.