UK vs US Median Wealth by Ethnicity: The Shocking Truth

UK vs US Median Wealth by Ethnicity: The Shocking Truth

Did you know that in both the UK and the US, your ethnicity is one of the strongest predictors of your financial net worth?

And the wealth gaps are far bigger than most people realise, even among people doing all the “right” things.

We're sharing this for education and, most importantly, so we can focus on solutions

Some of these wealth gaps are the result of decades, sometimes centuries, of unequal opportunity and without intentional action, these gaps only widen over time.

Seeing these wealth gaps can be disappointing, and we’re not writing this post to make you feel like you are behind in life.

We’re also not making it to call out any specific ethnicities.

Instead, we’re making it so that we can learn what the official stats say, as well as learn what you can do, no matter your ethnicity, to move forward financially and build wealth.

We’re of Black African ethnicity, and our journey defies the statistics we’re going to share today. 

We achieved Financial Independence at the age of 34 and became mortgage-free in 7 years while raising 2 children.

This is with the added challenge of me (Ken) being a first-generation immigrant with no money and my wife, Mary, being born to immigrant parents.

We’re sharing that to say that these stats don’t define your future. 

You can still build wealth no matter your ethnicity, and if you approach this with that mindset, you will, over time, and we’re here to help.

Recommended: Join our global community platform, get coaching & build wealth with our tailored wealth paths 

(The link above includes 15% off monthly for the first 25 people only. New members only.)

We’d welcome your views respectfully in the comments as you read today’s post, so please jump in and react to these stats.

Let’s dive straight in!

UK vs US Median Wealth by Ethnicity

Let's start with part 1 on UK wealth by Ethnicity:

Part 1: UK Wealth By Ethnicity

The latest research, Household wealth by ethnicity, for Great Britain was published by the Office for National Statistics in 2020 for the period from April 2016 to March 2018.

We’ll focus on the median (rather than average) as a preferred measure of central tendency for wealth because it is less affected by a small number of very wealthy households.

As at the time this ethnicity wealth data was put together by the ONS, Median Household Wealth for Great Britain as a whole was £286,600.

That number is made up of 4 components of wealth, which are:

• Net Property Wealth i.e. property values less mortgages
• Net Financial Wealth i.e. financial assets (for example, savings and investments) less financial liabilities (such as outstanding credit card balances and loans).
• Physical Wealth i.e. the value of household contents, vehicles, possessions and valuables.
• Private Pension Wealth i.e. value of any pension pots accrued that are not related to the State Pension.

Here is what Median UK Wealth By Ethnicity looks like according to the ONS:

White British and Indians are pretty much at the same wealth level, although I suspect Indians will be ahead on more recent numbers, which are not yet published. Black Africans are right at the bottom, which is both shocking and sad for us to see.

Black Caribbean are not far off the bottom either.

The Black African numbers did surprise me because Nigerians and Ghanaians are smashing it in the UK and globally in so many dimensions from music to sport to business, to the corporate space, etc

Please jump in the comments and react to these stats in a respectful way. Why are these wealth gaps by ethnicity so vast? 

Why are Indians on par with White British people from these wealth stats? What are they doing differently?

Why are Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Chinese people so far behind Indian and White British households?

Why are Black households so far behind most other ethnicities? 

We welcome comments from anyone of any ethnicity anywhere in the world.

Here are some reactions from others on our YouTube channel:

Interlude: Please take a moment to share this post with a friend or family member on WhatsApp, etc,  if you are enjoying it.

Part 2: Why Do The Wealth Gaps Exist by Ethnicity?

We’re going to speak from our perspective as a UK Black African couple for a minute.

It's important to acknowledge historical issues of slavery, colonialism and institutional racism that have contributed to economic inequality.

Also, there are present-day structural inequalities in housing, employment and education that have made it harder for Black people to get access to the resources and opportunities for wealth creation.

But here are some other reasons why Black communities are behind other ethnicities in these wealth stats:

1. Immigration Timing

Many Black African families are recent immigrants with less time to build wealth.

Indians, for example, arrived much earlier and had more time and opportunity to accumulate assets.

Caribbeans via the Windrush generation also arrived a lot earlier than most Black Africans.

2. Education vs Income Gap

Chinese and Indians have the highest proportion of working adults educated to a degree level or higher in the UK.

Whilst 36% of Black Africans are educated at a degree level or above, this has not always translated into higher incomes.

3. Lower Household Income

Ethnicity pay gaps remain large.

Indian households, for example, earn over twice as much per adult as Black Caribbean households (DWP).

4. Low Property Ownership

Wealth is closely tied to homeownership.

Only 22% of Black Africans and 31% of Black Caribbeans own property vs. 68% for Indians, 55% for Pakistanis, and 70% for White British.

Indians and Pakistanis hold 46% and 44% of their wealth, respectively, in property vs. 13% and 19% for Black Africans and Black Caribbeans.

Up on the screen are the 2025 official home ownership stats by various ethnicities:

One other interesting Home ownership factor that jumped out from the research is the impact of location on ethnicity wealth:

Households headed by one of the Black ethnic groups are also more likely to live in London than any other region, where high property prices coupled with relatively low earnings may hinder these groups from accruing property wealth. 

You can read the rest below:

This is basically saying that the choice of living in London without home ownership is reducing wealth outcomes for Black people in the UK. 

5. The “Black Tax” and Sending Money Back “Home”

The ongoing financial support to extended family does reduce the ability to save/invest. Some even give while they’re in debt.

This creates a cycle of intergenerational financial pressure.

One thing that the ONS stats won’t have captured is how many Black Africans and Caribbeans have their wealth back in their home countries e.g. through land and property they might have purchased there.

This would apply to other ethnicities where someone has another country they also call home and choose to spend time and money there.

e.g. White British people owning holiday homes in Spain, Portugal, etc. or Indians and Pakistanis owning land and property in their home countries.

6. Higher Debt Burden

Black households have a significantly higher ratio of debt relative to assets.

The cost of servicing this debt often limits opportunities to build wealth.

7. Little to No Inheritance

Average inheritance by ethnicity, according to the Resolution Foundation, analysing ONS data, is:

Inheritance continues to widen the wealth gap across generations.

8. Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is a powerful tool for wealth creation, especially for those who have historically faced barriers in the job market.

Research by the Resolution Foundation found that all things being equal, a £1 increase in household income is associated with household wealth being £16 higher.

Starting a business allows individuals to create their own opportunities and build their own wealth.

Asian communities are very entrepreneurial.

They also seem to be able to raise capital within their communities because they’re able to keep more of their money within their communities, which you don’t see as much within Black communities, for example.

You also see Asians in all kinds of businesses, everything from the corner shop or cash and carry to property businesses to massive family owned businesses. 

They even own Black hair and food shops.

In addition, they also seem to do things together, which we suspect is a value passed down from grandparents and so on.

9. Cultural Values and Community Support

Many ethnic minority communities have a strong sense of identity and culture that has helped to build solidarity and support for one another.

But Black people seem to be divided among ourselves. 

Black Africans and Caribbeans had a history of working against each other, though that is not so much the case today.

A house divided against itself cannot stand.

We might not be working against each other, but are we working with each other for real?

We should look to our own strong cultural heritage and values as a source of strength and inspiration for building our own wealth.

Examples of such heritage and values include creativity, community, education, identity, faith and resilience.

10. Lack of Financial Literacy and Poor Lifestyle Choices

Adopting the mindset that wealth is mostly unseen and focusing on living a simpler lifestyle will help a lot of people live within their means and avoid lifestyles sponsored by expensive debt.

Every household needs to have a basic understanding of budgeting and saving as well as investing and debt management strategies.

Prioritising saving and investing at least 10% to 20% per month into Stocks and Shares ISAs combined with Lifetime ISAs will help families build considerable wealth over time.

Sadly, this is not the reality for a lot of households who instead prioritise Physical Assets like expensive cars and other wasting assets over assets that don't appreciate in value.

Here is what the ONS stats show for UK wealth by ethnicity and asset type:

We have also analysed this data in percentage per asset class by ethnicity, so that you can easily see where a typical household has most of its wealth.

For Net Financial Wealth, you need to add the last two columns below as one shows financial assets and the other net financial liabilities. Here it is:

 

Let’s start with Black Africans first. You can see that across the 4 dimensions of wealth, most of their wealth is in Physical Wealth (51%), like cars and household content.

Writing as someone from a Black African household in the UK, this is not a good look.

Black Africans also have 21% in Pensions, 13% in property and net zero in Net Financial Wealth, i.e. 7% in savings less 7% in debts:

Black Carribbeans also have their highest wealth in Physical wealth at 36%, but have a bit more in Pension Wealth, i.e. 35% due to lots of public sector jobs.

However, they have a negative Net Financial Wealth of minus 1%. This presents a challenge during times of emergencies.

White British people have most of their wealth in Pension wealth at 33%, Property at 29% and also a high proportion on physical wealth of 26%. Only a net of 7% in Net Financial Wealth.

Chinese people show some really interesting stats. It appears they don’t trust pensions as much, with only 13% in pensions.

A massive 33% in Physical Wealth, Net Property at 32% and interestingly, a Net Financial Wealth of 14% (18% in savings less 4% in debt). 

Chinese people appear to have the highest allocation to net Financial Wealth among all ethnicities.

Here is the actual table from the Office for National Statistics with all other ethnicities included:

Part 3: US Wealth By Ethnicity

For the US Wealth by Ethnicity, we looked at the latest figures from the US Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances: 

You can see that by far, the most financially wealthy ethnic group in the USA are the Asians, which, interestingly, is the same in the UK.

Asians had a median net worth of $536,000, which is almost twice that of $285,000 by White non-hispanic. Wow!

Although Black or African American non-hispanic had a 60% increase in their net worth (the highest percentage change) in the 3 years, they have by far the lowest net worth.

Again, this is sad to see because it points to many years of systemic racism, among other things, which means a lot of black households in America remain massively behind.

In fact, looking at those numbers, the Median Asian net worth is 11.9X that of a Black or African American non-hispanic.

Wow! This is absolutely shocking!

If you want to see a good example of such systemic racism in housing, watch the recent Netflix documentary, Katrina: Come Hell and High Water.

We welcome your reactions in the comments, no matter your ethnicity or location.

Please comment respectfully, as we're reading published official numbers here.

Why are these wealth gaps so massive? What have the Asians done to have such a massive net worth?

Please drop comments that we can all learn from below.

Part 4: Conclusion

The one thing we’ve learned on our journey is that although one’s ethnicity can and does present challenges to building wealth, if you’re determined to build wealth, you absolutely can, no matter your ethnicity.

We are proof that it is possible, and we’re not alone. 

Lots and lots of other people are doing it, too, and if you’re one of those people who feel like they’re progressing financially, no matter how small, jump on the comments and let us know.

Wealth building requires certain ingredients:

First, wealth is about adopting the right money habits. It’s not about luck or earning a high income. We know many high earners who are broke and living paycheck to paycheck. 

But with the right habits, you can make weath building inevitable.

Building wealth is also about focusing on improving your mindset. 

If you’re all about scarcity, you won’t build wealth. You’d need to have a growth and abundance mindset.

Next, wealth is about doing what most others aren’t doing. 

By this, we’re talking about living significantly below your means and forgetting the default lifestyle creep.

Plus, making sure your money is invested without fail each month. Make investing a priority!

Wealth building is about building the right combination of skills, building a network and having a bias for taking some risks.

In summary, no matter your circumstances right now, even if you feel you’re behind in life, don’t let the stats define you. 

You deserve a life of financial security, more freedoms and more options, and it is possible for you. 

Keep believing it and, most importantly, start making those small changes in your money habits.

Please take a moment to share this post with one friend or family member via email, WhatsApp, etc.

We’d love to hear from you in the comments: What one action step do you think you need to take from reading this post? Why are Asian households ahead in both the UK and the US? 

Don’t go anywhere—check out these resources to help you close that gap and build wealth:

• Follow our Tailored Wealth Paths to Build Wealth (15% off monthly included, first 25 people only)
• How Ordinary People Became Tax-Free Millionaires
• UK vs US Median Wealth By Age

Frequently Asked Questions About The Wealth Gap

1. Are there other contributors to these ethnicity wealth gaps?

One area we'll explore in another post is the impact of single-parent households vs households headed by a couple (e.g. married) and what impact this has on the wealth outcomes above.

Gender differences are an obvious one that we hope to explore.

Age is also another major factor that's directly correlated with wealth across ethnicities. The older you are, the more likely you are to be wealthy.

Finally, we'd like to drill deeper into the differences within similar groups e.g. Chinese and Korean vs Indians vs Bangladeshi, or Nigerians vs other Black Africans. We expect to find key differences.

Watch out for other detailed blog posts covering these topics.

For now, you can read UK vs US Median Wealth By Age

2. Does being an ethnic minority in the UK or US, or anywhere else in the world, mean that you will not be able to build wealth in the future?

No, absolutely not!

There are, and there will continue to be challenges linked to ethnicity.

The truth? Wealth building is possible for anyone over time, but it requires:

• The right money habits and creating a system for wealth
• A growth and abundance mindset, believing it's possible
• Building valuable complementary skills, networks
• Making counter-cultural lifestyle moves that others aren't willing to make
• Having a willingness to take calculated risks and invest wisely

These apply no matter your location in the world.

Yes, ethnicity matters. History matters. But your actions and habits (small changes that compound) matter more. You can defy the stats 😀

Recommended: Join our global community platform, get coaching & build wealth with our tailored wealth paths 

(The link above includes 15% off monthly for the first 25 people only. New members only.)

Here is the video version to watch and share with others:

As always, in all things, be thankful and seek joy.