Current State of Wealth for Georgians
Executive Summary
By many measures, Georgia’s economy is dynamic — yet the benefits are unevenly distributed. The median net worth of Georgia households is $166,300, ranking 26th out of the 45 states that have sufficient-enough data to report household wealth estimates.21 However, this single figure masks huge variations. For instance, 16 percent of Georgia households have zero or negative net worth, which means they have no resources to fall back on in the event of a financial emergency.
There is also geographic and racial inequality within Georgia – an inequality that is even more pronounced when looking at wealth. Statewide, White families are far more likely to own homes, businesses, and retirement accounts, whereas Black and Latinx families are overrepresented among the asset-poor, which contributes to a widening racial wealth divide.22 This means many families of color in Georgia have little beyond paycheck-to-paycheck income – few reserves to draw on for college tuition, a down payment, or an emergency expense.
Racial wealth inequality in Georgia has historical roots. Decades of discriminatory policies denied Black Georgians the chance to build wealth on equal terms.23 Similarly, rural Black communities suffered from Jim Crow-era exclusion and continue to experience depressed property values and limited access to credit.24 On the other side of the ledger, many White families – even of modest means – have benefited from intergenerational transfers of wealth. Large gifts and inheritances account for about 12 percent of the White-Black wealth divide nationally.25
