Massachusetts families hold a median wealth of $370,000, yet more than a third can’t afford a $400 emergency. How is Beacon Hill reacting to striking new data on the state’s wealth gap?
A new Federal Reserve Bank of Boston survey shows median family wealth in the state is over $370,000. But buried in that headline is a staggering divide. More than a third of families don’t have $400 in cash for an emergency. And for Black and Latino households, that jumps to nearly two-thirds. Reporter Alison Kuznitz of the State House News Service shares what stood out to her in this data.
Alison Kuznitz, SHNS: The data is really eye-popping when you look beyond that median number. The survey found that the 25th percentile of families are earning $10,000. That means a quarter of the Commonwealth’s population are earning at or below $10,000. Meanwhile, the 75th percentile is over $1 million. That means a quarter of Bay Staters are earning above $1 million…