Numbers in the text, tables, and figures may not add up to totals because of rounding. Unless this report indicates otherwise, family wealth and family income are shown in thousands of 2019 dollars. To remove the effects of inflation, the Congressional Budget Office adjusted all dollar amounts shown for years before 2019 with the price index for personal consumption expenditures from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Shaded vertical bars in some figures indicate periods of recession, which extend from the peak of a business cycle to its trough.

For definitions of key terms and measures used in the report, see Appendix A. For a discussion of the data sources and methods underlying this analysis and of other technical details referenced throughout the report, see Appendix B.