It is often said that the United States is the richest country on Earth. This is a myth.
It is certainly true that, in the United States, there are some very, very rich people, including the wealthiest billionaires on Earth, and the first ever trillionaire (Elon Musk).
However, when you look at the country as a whole, you see that the US is not a relatively prosperous nation.
This article will analyze a broad set of data, including several different indicators, that show how Americans are not wealthy compared to people in other advanced economies.
Americans are NOT wealthier than Europeans
US media outlets constantly promote a pernicious narrative, claiming that, supposedly, the United Kingdom is poorer than Mississippi, the poorest US state.
This misleading idea is especially common on the US right. Trump’s MAGA supporters often disparagingly refer to Europeans as “Europoors”.
Even some European media outlets have published articles claiming that “American families are so much richer than us”.
This is completely ridiculous — and, frankly, false.
UBS, the major Swiss bank, publishes an annual Global Wealth Report. The document is written primarily for rich investors, but it includes some interesting data that can be relevant to everyday people.
In the 2026 report, UBS calculated the wealth per adult in the 30 richest economies in the world. What was especially useful about this report was that it included both average wealth and median wealth.
Hellbound and Down 