This project makes U.S. household wealth inequality physically visible through a graph arranged from the poorest households to the richest. Each column represents 1% of households, and the scale is so large that the top 1% extends far beyond the initial view: at one pixel per $5,000, reaching the top requires scrolling for minutes. A comparison using stacks of $100 bills puts the median household’s wealth at about nine inches, against an average of 145 feet for a top-1% household. The display emphasizes how sharply wealth rises at the upper end, noting that the top 0.1% comprises 136,095 households and that even higher groups lie far above.
The graph estimates wealth for percentiles 1 through 99 using 2023 Survey of Consumer Finances figures adjusted to 2026 dollars, while the top 1% average uses Federal Reserve data from the first quarter of 2026. The poorest 8% are shown with their reported debts. It also includes “Think” and “Ideal” distributions based on a 2011 survey, spread across percentiles for comparison. Visitors can enter their own household net worth to see its position, view the climb in text, watch an updated video, or download a printable graph designed to be assembled across a wall. The interactive version did not load in the provided view, but the print and video options remain available.
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