Boston Fed updates oft-cited 2015 report finding median Black wealth in Boston was just $8

Mortgage rates on 30-year, fixed-rate loans rose above 5% this week. That’s pushing the cost of buying a home higher and making homeownership unaffordable for more people.

By Chris Burrell
August 12, 2026

A new and groundbreaking survey of wealth in Massachusetts paints an overall healthy economic picture but highlights wide gaps for Black, Hispanic and some Asian families.

The report is the first update to a frequently-cited, 11-year-old study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston called The Color of Wealth in Boston. That report also documented wide racial gaps in the amount of wealth different families have in the Boston area. One of its specific findings — that the median net worth of U.S.-born Black families was just $8 compared to $247,500 for white households — was the subject of much debate as well as some criticism of the methodology.

The new report relies on a different methodology and the authors say it should not be directly compared to the previous report.

The 2025 Massachusetts Economic Conditions and Household Opportunity Survey (Mass ECHOS) report was put out by the Boston Fed, in partnership with The Boston Foundation, the Barr Foundation, Eastern Bank Foundation, and Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.

The 2026 report finds that the median family net worth in the state was $374,000 but more than a third of those surveyed said they lacked the resources to cover an emergency expense of $400.

The report also found continued racial gaps, with the lowest estimated median net wealth in the state were in Black families ($7,800) and Hispanic families ($1,200) as compared to white families, which had a median of $549,200.

Nicole Obi, president and CEO of the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts (BECMA), praised the survey’s use of real-life examples, and not just data, to illustrate the economic experiences of Massachusetts’ residents who are far from wealthy and unable to meet a $400 emergency expense such as a car repair or tuition at a state college or university.

“Something as simple as their car breaks down and they can’t afford to repair it,” said Obi. “That’s real. And I don’t think that people really understand that. I would call it wealthlessness: 31% of the Black family respondents are at zero or net wealth. That’s a huge percentage of the population.”

Education-based wealth gaps
Economic researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, who surveyed more than 5,000 families last year, also highlighted big wealth and earnings differences based on education levels. People with graduate degrees reported earning double what those with just bachelor’s degrees, the bank survey found.

The survey further emphasized wide differences in wealth for families that rent housing and for those living in the state’s Gateway cities. Nearly 40% of people living in rental housing reported having zero or negative net wealth, compared to one percent of homeowners experiencing that economic hardship. In the state’s Gateway Cities, nearly a fourth of residents surveyed has zero or negative net wealth.

“The big story is basically in Massachusetts, there’s real wealth, but that wealth is unevenly spread,” said Betty Francisco, CEO of Boston Impact Initiative, a Boston nonprofit that helps invest in small businesses and community projects. “You can see that many families still don’t have a real cushion in one of the richest states in the country.”

Fueling much of the residents’ wealth in the state is home equity. Massachusetts ranked third in the nation for home values among owner-occupied houses and condos, according to 2023 Census data cited in the survey.

That high-priced housing is a barrier to new homeowners: Massachusetts had the fifth-lowest homeownership rate in the US, according to the Census.

Francisco said that many people are moving to Gateway cities because they are more affordable, but those cities need more investment to thrive.

“Folks with lower incomes moving there. And they are actually creating economic opportunity,” she added. “They’re doing economic development by coming there, but that’s where more investment needs to concentrate.”

Many experts reviewing the study pointed to the finding of graduate degrees nearly doubling the net wealth of families in Massachusetts. Francisco said state and higher education leaders need to leverage that finding and make graduate programs more accessible.

Jim Rooney, president and CEO of Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, said the survey shows the state’s wealth is driven by home ownership and education and should influence state policy in both arenas.

“Do we need another reason to double down and declare a housing crisis in Massachusetts?” he said. “Not only is it causing population loss and young people deciding to leave, but now we have empirical data that says that it’s driving wealth disparities in the Commonwealth. People can’t buy homes.”

He said the study also supports investments in higher education in a state known for an economy based on biopharma, technology and financial services.

Chris Burrell is an investigative reporter at the GBH News Center for Investigative Reporting. Feedback? Questions? Story ideas? Reach out to Chris at christopher.burrell@gbh.org.