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econscout

Read the US economy.

One economy, many instruments. Each measures one thing well and misses others by design. Read across them, through time and place, with the events that moved them in view.

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Why does everything feel expensive? Are homes still affordable? How much wealth does the bottom half hold? Is pay keeping up with what workers produce? Where does the money in elections come from?

A question, not a chart. Each opens the data behind it. Or jump straight into the 110 indicators below.

A few things the data shows

The wealthiest 1% hold 31.6% of US household net worth.

Their share of the total, tracked since 1989.

Explore

Millennials and younger hold 11.0% of US net worth.

Compare every generation — but read each at the same age, not the same date.

Explore

Federal debt held by the public is 122.6% of GDP.

The debt measured against the size of the economy.

Explore

Real wages changed +0.5% over the past year.

The typical full-time paycheck, after inflation.

Explore

Plain facts from the cached data, each with the chart behind it. Copy a link to share, or open it in Explore.

Your generation

Pick your birth-year range to see your generation's share of US household net worth, in context.

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The economy at a glance

110 indicators · 7 areas · latest from cache

Growth & Jobs

31

Output, productivity, and the labor market — how much the economy makes and who is working.

Prices & Cost of Living

12

Inflation and the price of specific things — from the headline index to tuition, rent, and groceries.

Money, Rates & Debt

23

Interest rates, the money supply, and what households and the government owe.

Housing

8

Home prices, construction, ownership, and what it takes to afford a place to live.

Wealth, Inequality & Taxes

25

How wealth and income are distributed — by tier, and against the markets that hold them.

Money & Influence

2

Campaign finance and the tax rates at the top — where money meets policy.

People & Society

4

Births, longevity, and the demographics behind the workforce.

Each row links to its full history in Explore. The line is the last ~12 years; the change compares the latest reading to a year ago. Latest-revised, read from cache; see sources & methodology.