Wonder

Research Outline

Prepared for Scott N. | Delivered June 19, 2020

Stock Ownership Rate - US

Goals

To determine the percentage of Americans (or American households) who own stocks. 

Early Findings

Here is the link to the Google spreadsheet containing the project. We have completed rows 2 - 32 of the attached spreadsheet with our findings. Below are some of our findings:

In 1900, about 1 percent of the entire US population owned common stocks in public companies. 
In 1952, this figure increased to 4 percent of the US populace. 
At the turn of the century (i.e., in the year 2000), 62 percent of Americans owned shares in public corporations. 
In 2010, this figure decreased to 56 percent of the entire US population. 
Today, about 55 percent of Americans own common stocks in public companies, according to the latest estimates from Gallup.

Summary of FindingsWe were able to determine the stock ownership rate for a total of 31 years between 1900 - 2020. Most of the years we found were recent and mostly between 1998 - 2020, as stock ownership rates for years before 1998 were mostly unavailable. We do not believe further research on the topic would yield any additional information.