NEW BOSTON FED REPORT ON FAMILY WEALTH PROVIDES VALUABLE STATEWIDE INSIGHT INTO WEALTH GAPS, SAY COMMUNITY PARTNERS

The following information was released by the Boston Foundation:

The Boston Foundation (TBF) and a committee of strategic partners, including the Barr Foundation, Eastern Bank Foundation, and the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, say the new study of family wealth in Massachusetts, released today by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, provides unprecedented insights into wealth gaps in the state. The rigorous, impartial research will inform their ongoing, cross-sector work to ensure all Massachusetts residents have economic opportunities.

The study, Family Wealth in Massachusetts: Findings from the 2025 Massachusetts Economic Conditions and Household Opportunity Survey (Mass ECHOS), is the largest of its kind in Massachusetts and provides a sobering confirmation of persistent wealth disparities across place and demographic groups in Massachusetts, as well as within many of the broader demographic categories. The survey, which garnered about 5,000 usable responses from across Massachusetts, asked respondents to share information about family wealth components and used these to calculate net wealth, along with analyses of gifts, inheritances, and estate planning.

"James Baldwin said, 'Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced,'" noted Lee Pelton, President and CEO of the Boston Foundation. "This well-designed, far-reaching, and rigorously documented survey by the Boston Fed allows us to face the challenge of equity with new vigor and knowledge that our work to strengthen homeownership, improve educational outcomes, and support small businesses can and will over time strengthen the economic well-being of people across the Commonwealth. It provides vitally important data to guide TBF's continuing efforts to build a Greater Boston that works for everyone."

"As the Commonwealth and country celebrate 250 years, we must remain committed to urgently building a future that increases opportunity and quality of life for all people. This new, statewide report provides data that highlights the wide gaps in wealth and access to economic mobility, emphasizing the many neighborhoods and demographics in need of transformative support and impact," said James E. Rooney, President and CEO of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. "Through the Chamber and Chamber Foundation, we are strengthening our initiatives, including Supercharging Housing Production, Small Business Strong, Pacesetters, and our financial literacy partnership with Boston Public Schools, to ensure that our state is a place where every person and family can deepen their roots, build wealth that uplifts their families and communities, and create a meaningful legacy."

Download the report from bostonfed.org

"This well-designed, far-reaching, and rigorously documented survey by the Boston Fed allows us to face the challenge of equity with new vigor and knowledge that our work to strengthen homeownership, improve educational outcomes, and support small businesses can and will over time strengthen the economic well-being of people across the Commonwealth."

Lee Pelton, President and CEO,

the Boston Foundation

Having wealth is the ability to financially navigate an unexpected job loss, a serious illness, or buy and/or maintain a home. It is the difference between one's ability to live to their fullest potential and a trajectory that mires them in debt, said Ali Noorani, President and CEO, Barr Foundation. According to this important new report by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, about a third of the Commonwealths families do not have $400 in cash or the equivalent to address an emergency expense. This is a clear indication to us that economic inequity is so deeply rooted that solutions can only be found in collaboration. The surest way to reduce the wealth gap is by working together across sectors and ideologies to remove barriers and improve access to capital.

We are deeply invested in creating a thriving local, economy where everyone has the opportunity to prosper, said Turahn Dorsey, President and CEO, Eastern Bank Foundation. Our work in the areas of affordable housing, small business development and workforce development aims to address the disparities and close the gaps described in the Federal Reserves latest report. We need good data and the kind of honest perspective on the challenges that the research provides to have the impact that we intend.

Among the key findings*:

Overall, Massachusetts families have a median household wealth of roughly $374,000, but one-in-six families in the Commonwealth have zero or negative wealththat is, their debts and other liabilities exceed the value of their assets.

White families in the survey had an estimated median net wealth of $549,200, versus $305,000 for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) families. For Hispanic and Black families, median net wealth was strikingly lower. Among Black families, it was $7,800, and for Hispanic families, it was $1,200.

The survey also found substantial differences in wealth by educational attainment. Families where the respondent or spouse had not completed high school had median net wealth of $1,100, versus $280,800 for those with some college, including technical and associates degrees, $455,000 for bachelors degree holders and $947,400 for those with graduate degrees.

And the survey found that overall homeowners had substantially higher net wealth than renters, with an estimated median of $790,500, compared to $1,500 for renters.

*The full report contains important information on confidence intervals across these data.

Beyond these broad measures, the data are striking in their illustration of the precariousness of life for millions of Massachusetts residents. Consistent with estimates for the nation from other data, more than one in three households in Massachusetts said they did not have $400 on hand to pay for an emergency expense, such as car repairs, an illness, or a household emergency. In Massachusetts 26 Gateway Cities, that percentage rises to just over half.

The report funders reiterate the Boston Feds note that these survey data cannot be directly compared with those in the well-known 2015 Boston Fed study The Color of Wealth, because of their different methodologies and geographies. The findings, however, clearly demonstrate that the broad wealth gaps in Massachusetts, which developed over centuries, remain distressingly large and should motivate a renewed call to action.

The funders who supported the collection of the data used in this Boston Fed report will continue to explore the data in greater detail, broaden the conversation on wealth gaps, and work to develop the collaborative solutions needed to shape a more equitable Massachusetts.