Aug 12, 2026 · 20 min · 9 segments
Researchers know a lot about household income because the topic is well-studied and has huge implications for financial health. But what about wealth, a family's assets minus their liabilities? Much…
Beth MattinglyGuest
Prabal ChakrabartiGuest
Jay LindseyHost
As part of the U.S. Central Bank, the Boston Fed has a really important mandate from Congress around full employment and stable prices.
So in service of that mandate, you really need to understand the economic conditions of households.
How are people faring? And so this survey is a way to look at a key aspect of that, people's wealth.
Looking especially at wealth, it's one of the gauges on the dashboard to see how people are faring, how families and their household economic conditions are doing.
And so this survey provides that kind of data across different geographies and demographic groups, and it gives us a real snapshot of the Commonwealth.
But this is a first of its kind survey with this rigor and coverage to really give this picture for a state.
And so we're very excited to have this out to foster a dialogue and a conversation about the results, about what they mean, and the extent to which they reflect that people are able to achieve economic opportunity.
to be able to get a job if they're looking for a job or find a better job, and be able to manage everyday household expenses and even unexpected expenses.
Yes, conducting surveys like this is part of a longstanding tradition within the Boston Fed of looking at data and research to understand the economy.
Thinking about wealth specifically, The Boston Fed conducted a different survey of wealth 10 years ago with a smaller sample and different methods.
It asks some really good questions about assets and debt and really gets into some of the details and some of the nuances.
As part of the U.S. Central Bank, the Boston Fed has a really important mandate from Congress around full employment and stable prices.
So in service of that mandate, you really need to understand the economic conditions of households.
How are people faring? And so this survey is a way to look at a key aspect of that, people's wealth.
Looking especially at wealth, it's one of the gauges on the dashboard to see how people are faring, how families and their household economic conditions are doing.
And so this survey provides that kind of data across different geographies and demographic groups, and it gives us a real snapshot of the Commonwealth.
But this is a first of its kind survey with this rigor and coverage to really give this picture for a state.
And so we're very excited to have this out to foster a dialogue and a conversation about the results, about what they mean, and the extent to which they reflect that people are able to achieve economic opportunity.
to be able to get a job if they're looking for a job or find a better job, and be able to manage everyday household expenses and even unexpected expenses.
Yes, conducting surveys like this is part of a longstanding tradition within the Boston Fed of looking at data and research to understand the economy.
Thinking about wealth specifically, The Boston Fed conducted a different survey of wealth 10 years ago with a smaller sample and different methods.
It asks some really good questions about assets and debt and really gets into some of the details and some of the nuances.
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