Why We Built Shoptegrity

Ownership is concentrated

The Federal Reserve tracks who owns household wealth in the United States. Its latest figures show that a small share of households owns most of it.

• The wealthiest 1% of U.S. households held about 32% of all household wealth in mid-2026, about $60 trillion of $186 trillion. That is the highest share in the Fed's records, which start in 1989, when it was about 23%. Federal Reserve, Distributional Financial Accounts, Q2 2026
• The wealthiest 10% held about 69% of household wealth, more than two of every three dollars. In 1989 it was about 61%. Federal Reserve, Distributional Financial Accounts, Q2 2026
• The wealthiest 10% held about 88% of the corporate stock and mutual fund shares that households own outside employer pension and 401(k)-type plans. The top 1% held about half. The bottom half of households held less than 1%. Federal Reserve, Distributional Financial Accounts, Q2 2026
• The bottom half of U.S. households together held about 2.3% of all household wealth, about $4.3 trillion. In 1989 it was about 3.5%. Federal Reserve, Distributional Financial Accounts, Q2 2026

Our viewWhen ownership is this concentrated, most of the gains from a growing economy go to the households that already own the most.

The middle is shrinking

A smaller share of Americans lives in middle-income households than in the early 1970s, and those households receive a smaller share of total household income.

• The share of Americans living in middle-income households fell from 61% in 1971 to 51% in 2023. The upper-income share grew more (11% to 19%) than the lower-income share (27% to 30%). Pew Research Center, 2024
• Middle-income households received 62% of all U.S. household income in 1970 but 43% in 2022. Their median income grew 60% after inflation over that time, less than the 78% gain for upper-income households. Pew Research Center, 2024
• The share of nonfarm business output paid to workers as wages and benefits was 52.8% in April to June 2026, the lowest level in records going back to 1947. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Productivity and Costs, Q2 2026
• Advocacy groupThe Economic Policy Institute, an advocacy think tank, analyzed federal data. It found that since 1979, output per hour of work has nearly doubled (up 94%), while pay and benefits for typical non-supervisory workers (about 80% of the workforce) rose about 33% after inflation. Economic Policy Institute (advocacy), 2026

The ladders are harder to climb

Owning a home, having health coverage, and starting a business are three ways families build security and wealth. Here is what the data shows about each.

Homes cost more compared with income

• About 65% of U.S. households owned their home in mid-2026. For households headed by someone under 35 it was about 35%, down from a peak of about 44% in 2004. U.S. Census Bureau, Housing Vacancy Survey, Q2 2026
• In 2025 the typical existing single-family home cost about 4.7 times the typical household's yearly income, up from about 3.2 times on average in the 1990s. At the end of 2025 a household needed about $120,800 a year to afford the payments on a median-priced home, up from $68,700 five years earlier. Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, 2026
• Industry surveyThe National Association of Realtors, an industry group, found in its annual buyer survey that first-time buyers made up only 21% of people who bought a home to live in between mid-2024 and mid-2025, the lowest share it has recorded. The typical first-time buyer was 40 years old, a record high. National Association of Realtors (industry survey), 2025

Our Housing & Rental Guide covers who owns housing, questions to ask a landlord, and paths to owning.

Health coverage is tied to a job

• In 2025, just over half of Americans (53.5%) had health insurance through an employer or union at some point in the year, either their own or a family member's. That was the most common source of coverage. About 1 in 10 (10.5%) bought coverage directly, including through the ACA Marketplace, and 7.9% had no coverage all year. People can have more than one type. U.S. Census Bureau, Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2025
• Job-based family health coverage cost an average of $26,993 in 2025. Workers paid about $6,850 and employers paid the rest. 97% of firms with 200 or more workers offer health benefits, compared with 59% of firms with 10 to 199 workers. KFF Employer Health Benefits Survey, 2025
• Research has found that tying health insurance to jobs can keep people in jobs they would otherwise leave. One widely cited study, using 1987 data, estimated it cut voluntary job changes among workers with employer coverage by about a quarter. Madrian, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1994 Another found that after about 170,000 Tennessee residents lost public coverage in 2005, employment rose, mostly in jobs of 20 or more hours a week that came with health insurance. Garthwaite, Gross & Notowidigdo, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2014
• One peer-reviewed study found that among working men, business ownership rose from 24.6% just before age 65 to 28.0% just after, when Medicare becomes available. The authors call this "some evidence" that relying on a job for health insurance holds some would-be business owners back. Fairlie, Kapur & Gates, Journal of Health Economics, 2011

Our viewWe believe people should be able to change jobs or start a business without fear of losing their health coverage.

Healthcare Compare lets you compare insurers, hospitals, clinics and independent doctors.

Starting a business takes capital

• 80% of small businesses with employees used personal savings for startup capital. Nearly half of businesses with employees (47%) used more than $25,000 to start, compared with 17% of businesses without employees. SBA Office of Advocacy, 2024
• In a 2025 Federal Reserve Banks survey of small businesses with employees, 42% of those that applied for financing got the full amount they sought, and 22% got nothing. Among firms with debt, 59% used the owner's personal guarantee to secure it. Federal Reserve Banks, Small Business Credit Survey, 2026
• In early 2026, banks' median interest rates on new small-business term loans were about 6.7% to 7.1%. Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Small Business Lending Survey, Q1 2026 Over the same months, the large corporations with the highest credit ratings paid yields of about 5.3% to 5.5% on long-term bonds. Moody's Aaa corporate bond yield, via FRED
• The share of U.S. employer businesses that are brand-new fell from about 14% in 1978 to about 9% in 2023, though it has ticked up since the late 2010s. Applications to start businesses hit about 5.7 million in 2025, the most since Census began tracking them in 2004, but only a small fraction become businesses with paid employees. U.S. Census Bureau, Business Dynamics Statistics and Business Formation Statistics
• The top 1% of households held about 53% of the equity in privately held, non-corporate businesses (a category that includes rental property). The bottom half held about 1%. Federal Reserve, Distributional Financial Accounts, Q2 2026

Our viewWhen starting a business depends on personal savings, people who already have money get a head start. We believe that is part of why business ownership stays concentrated.

If you make or grow something, our Sell Direct guide covers selling from your own online store.

Why the biggest companies win at the register

Shoppers have moved more of their grocery spending to the largest stores, and research shows that size can bring lower prices.

• Americans have shifted grocery spending toward large-format stores. Warehouse clubs and supercenters took 26.4% of food-at-home spending in 2025, up from 9.4% in 1997. In 2022, the 20 largest food retailers made about 65% of all food sales at supermarkets, other grocery stores, warehouse clubs and supercenters. USDA Economic Research Service, 2026
• Peer-reviewed research using 2000s data found that a large discount supercenter chain's prices on a basket of 24 grocery items averaged about 10% below its competitors'. When one of its supercenters opened nearby, competing grocers cut prices by about 1%. Basker & Noel, Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, 2009
• A 2024 Federal Trade Commission staff report found that during pandemic shortages, smaller grocers had more trouble getting products than larger ones. Federal Trade Commission staff report, 2024
• One widely cited study estimates the average markup at publicly traded U.S. companies rose from about 21% in 1980 to about 61% by 2016. The rise came mostly from a small group of firms with very high markups, while the typical firm's markup did not change. Other economists dispute how large the increase is. De Loecker, Eeckhout & Unger, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2020

Our viewChoosing a lower price is rational, especially when money is tight. We do not shame anyone for it. We want price to be one factor among several, next to who owns the business and where the money goes.

Our Swap Guides compare common places to shop with alternatives, so price is not the only thing you see.

Money and political power

Researchers disagree about how much wealth shapes policy. Here are both sides, and some facts about money in elections.

• A widely cited 2014 peer-reviewed study of 1,779 federal policy questions found that economic elites and business-oriented interest groups had substantial independent influence on U.S. policy, while average citizens and mass-based groups had little or no independent influence. Gilens & Page, Perspectives on Politics, 2014
• Other political scientists caution the gap may be smaller than it looks. Middle-income and wealthy Americans often rank policy options in the same order. Because of that, a 2015 peer-reviewed study found that policy outcomes look about the same as they would if lawmakers followed the middle class rather than the wealthy. Enns, Perspectives on Politics, 2015
• In 2010 the Supreme Court ruled in Citizens United v. FEC that the government may not ban independent election spending by corporations (and unions). The Court kept disclosure and disclaimer requirements and left in place the ban on corporations giving money directly to candidates. Federal Election Commission
• Shortly before Election Day 2024, donors who each gave $5 million or more had supplied more than 75% of the money raised by the largest super PACs backing the two major-party presidential nominees, up from 63% in 2020, according to an analysis of federal filings. Brennan Center for Justice, 2024
• In 2023 and 2024, at least $157 million was spent on state supreme court elections in 35 states, 35% more than in any earlier cycle after adjusting for inflation. For the first time, outside interest groups, rather than the candidates themselves, spent more than half of it. Brennan Center for Justice, 2026

Our viewWe believe concentrated wealth brings concentrated political influence. Broader ownership would spread that influence more widely.

This section describes money in politics in general. It names no candidate, party, official or judge, and it does not support or oppose anyone running for office.

Systems that may reinforce it

Here is research on two systems behind the financial markets: central bank policy and computer trading. Both studies also find real benefits.

• A 2024 study by a Federal Reserve Bank of New York economist used an economic model of the years after the 2008–09 recession. It estimated that the Fed's bond purchases and forward guidance boosted the economy and benefited all households, and narrowed inequality among the bottom 90% by lowering unemployment. It also estimated that they widened the income gap between the top 10% and everyone else by raising company profits and stock prices. Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Staff Report 1108, 2024
• A 2020 SEC staff report found that computer algorithms are used throughout U.S. stock trading. It said research shows algorithmic trading has generally made markets more liquid in normal times, though some types may make periods of market stress worse. SEC staff report on algorithmic trading, 2020

Our viewIn our view, the Federal Reserve, large banks, automated trading and policy choices have reinforced the concentration of ownership. The studies above are context for that view, not proof of it.

AI is a turning point

AI tools are starting to show up in how people shop, and economists expect AI to raise output. Here is what the research says so far.

AI shopping assistants are arriving

• Industry dataVisits to U.S. retail websites from generative AI tools rose nearly 700% in the 2025 holiday season compared with the year before, though industry data shows the number of shoppers arriving this way is still modest. Adobe Analytics (industry data), 2026
• PreprintEarly research on AI shopping agents, not yet peer-reviewed, found that in test settings they often steered purchases toward a small number of products, were swayed by where items appeared on a page, and differed sharply from one AI model to another in how much weight they gave to price, ratings and reviews. Allouah et al., arXiv preprint, 2025
• A peer-reviewed 2024 study found that AI language models tend to link well-known global brands with positive qualities more than local brands. The researchers say this could matter as these models are used more for product recommendations. Kamruzzaman, Nguyen & Kim, EMNLP 2024

Our viewIf AI shopping assistants look only for the lowest price, they may push even more spending to the largest companies.

That is why Shoptegrity publishes open data as JSON files under /api/v1, and an MCP server, a standard way for AI assistants to look things up. With them, an assistant can weigh ownership and locality, not just price.

More output, but for whom?

• ProjectionEconomists project AI will raise U.S. output, but estimates vary widely. One university budget model projects AI will leave productivity and GDP about 1.5% higher by 2035, and about 3.7% higher by 2075, than they would otherwise be, and warns these projections are uncertain. Penn Wharton Budget Model, 2025
• ProjectionNot every economist expects a large AI boom. One prominent estimate finds AI may raise U.S. productivity by less than 1% over ten years. It finds no evidence AI will narrow income gaps between workers, though it expects AI to widen inequality less than earlier automation did. It also expects income from owning capital to gain relative to income from work. Acemoglu, Economic Policy, 2025

The population is still growing, but is projected to peak

• Births still outnumber deaths in the U.S. From July 2024 to June 2025, births exceeded deaths by nearly 519,000, while net international migration added about 1.3 million people, for total growth of 1.8 million (0.5%). U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 estimates
• ProjectionThe Congressional Budget Office projects that, starting in 2030, deaths will outnumber births in the U.S., and that without immigration the population would begin to shrink that year. Counting immigration, it projects growth from 349 million in 2026 to 364 million in 2056, then decline. It calls these projections highly uncertain. Congressional Budget Office, Demographic Outlook, 2026

Our viewAI could make output more plentiful. Whether that raises living standards for most people depends on who owns the businesses and the tools. If fewer new workers join the economy, we think who owns the machines and software will matter even more.

What we believe, and what you can do

The studies below show links, not proof. Here is what they find.

• A peer-reviewed study of U.S. counties found that places with more small, locally owned businesses had faster growth in income per person, while places with more large businesses owned from outside the area grew more slowly. This is an association, not proof of cause. Fleming & Goetz, Economic Development Quarterly, 2011
• Advocacy groupStudies commissioned by local-business advocacy groups estimate that independent retailers recirculate more than three times as much of their revenue in the local economy as national chains do. These studies rely on small samples and were not published in peer-reviewed journals. Civic Economics study for Local First Utah (advocacy), 2012
• In a long-running federal survey that follows a group of Americans now in their late 30s and early 40s, employed respondents with an employee stock ownership plan had about 45% higher median household net wealth in 2021 ($66,800 vs. $46,000) than those without one. That is according to an analysis by a nonprofit that promotes employee ownership. It shows a link, not proof that the plans caused the difference. National Center for Employee Ownership, 2025

Where to start

• Brand Check: look up a brand and see the records we can cite about who owns it.
• Local Directory: find businesses near you, with ownership shown where it has a cited source.
• Community: why supporting your neighbors matters, and a place for swap stories once submissions open.
• Swap Guides: compare where you shop now with alternatives.
• Sell Direct: for makers, farms and co-ops who want to sell from their own store.
• Food Chain: compare how different ways of buying food pay the people along the chain.
• Housing & Rental Guide: who owns housing, questions to ask a landlord, and paths to owning.
• Healthcare Compare: compare insurers, hospitals, clinics and independent doctors.

How this page handles facts

• Every figure links to its source, and the link names the publisher and the date of the data.
• Opinions carry the Our view tag or start with "We believe".
• Figures from advocacy groups, industry groups and studies not yet peer-reviewed are labelled. Projections are labelled as projections.
• Apart from the sources we cite and the court case named above, this page names no company, brand or person.
• See something wrong? Request a correction. How we grade companies is explained in our methodology.