The Federal Reserve recently released the 2016 Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), a triennial survey of a nationally representative sample of U.S. households, which collects detailed data on their assets, liabilities, and demographic characteristics. It is considered the gold standard of information on income and wealth.
Overall, this year’s report, unlike those in 2013 and 2010 surveys, is quite upbeat. For American households, both median income and median wealth have increased markedly since 2013.