In abstract One of many world’s richest areas has a few of its starkest divides, with its high 10% of households holding two-thirds of its wealth.
A brand new examine of Silicon Valley wealth, earnings and different financial measures exhibits huge disparities in one of many nation’s wealthiest areas, with the highest 10% of households holding 66% of the investable belongings within the area final yr.
In Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, simply eight households held extra wealth than the underside 50% (almost half one million households), in accordance with the Silicon Valley Index, an annual report by the Silicon Valley Institute for Regional Research, the analysis arm of Joint Enterprise Silicon Valley.
“We stay in a capitalist system that’s primarily based on markets,” mentioned Russell Hancock, chief government of the San Jose-based assume tank. “There’s guidelines to the sport; the foundations are honest. In Silicon Valley, we have now a number of the world’s greatest winners.”
Hancock added that the report highlights the necessity for extra investments in schooling and “equipping individuals for fulfillment.”
The institute defines Silicon Valley as Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, in addition to components of Santa Cruz and southern Alameda counties. The assume tank additionally consists of San Francisco in a few of its metrics. The report centered solely on information from Santa Clara and San Mateo counties for its wealth analyses.
Wealth inequality in Silicon Valley is extra pronounced than within the U.S. general, or globally, with the highest 1% of households holding 48 occasions extra of the whole wealth than the underside 50%, in accordance with the report. That compares to 23 occasions nationally and globally, the report mentioned.
Extremely wealthy
The report estimates Silicon Valley’s mixture family wealth is sort of $1.1 trillion, when it counts extremely excessive internet price people.
The report marks the primary time the assume tank revealed wealth estimates that embrace information on these extremely excessive internet price people, who the institute outlined as these with internet investable belongings of $30 million or extra.
Such belongings are these which can be held in money, or can simply and shortly be transformed into money, together with checking accounts, certificates of deposits and retirement accounts. The group didn’t depend homes, vehicles or different non-liquid monetary holdings as investable belongings.
“There’s guidelines to the sport; the foundations are honest. In Silicon Valley, we have now a number of the world’s greatest winners.” Russell Hancock, chief government of JOINT VENTURE SILICON VALLEY
Santa Clara and San Mateo counties had 163,000 millionaire households in 2022, which the report outlined as households that had greater than $1 million in investable belongings. That interprets to lower than 1% of the area’s inhabitants holding about 36% of its wealth.
And an estimated 8,300 households held greater than $10 million in investable belongings, in accordance with the report.
Conversely there have been about 220,000 Silicon Valley households with fewer than $5,000 in whole belongings.
About 23% of Silicon Valley residents lived under the poverty threshold in 2021, a 3 share level enhance from 2019. Two % of Silicon Valley households, or about 22,000 households, didn’t maintain financial institution accounts.
The report additionally famous that whereas earnings inequality was lessening statewide, down 1%, in addition to nationally, down 3%, earnings inequality rose in Silicon Valley by 5% in 2021. Usually, the tempo of earnings inequality progress because the 2009 recession has been twice that of the nation, the report mentioned.
The disparities in Silicon Valley started in earnest within the Nineties, when the web economic system first took off, and grew extra pronounced after 2010, following the Nice Recession. The primary two years of the pandemic exacerbated the inequality, the report mentioned.
extra on inequality Mortgage prices lock out California house consumers California’s housing market is much less reasonably priced after mortgage rates of interest drove up prices for a lot of potential consumers final yr. Serving to householders: California expands mortgage reduction The state is increasing mortgage reduction to extra California householders who’re struggling by means of the pandemic. This system now covers second mortgages and mortgage deferrals, with a most whole grant of $80,000.
