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# Australia and America store their wealth very differently
- URL: https://www.benchmarkanalytics.com.au/australia-and-america-store-their-wealth-very-differently/
- Published: 2026-09-24T21:00:52.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-24T21:00:51.000Z
- Description: More than half of Australian household assets are tied up in housing. In America, the equivalent figure is only one-quarter. The difference reveals two very different household balance sheets.
- Author: Nick Hossack
- Tags: Houehold Wealth, Housing, Australia, US, Superannuation, Financial Markets, Household Finances, #superannuation

Australians and Americans are both wealthy by global standards, but they store that wealth very differently.

At the end of 2025, Australian households owned about **$22.25 trillion in gross assets**. Of that, **$12.53 trillion was tied up in land and dwellings**.

That means housing accounted for approximately **56% of everything Australian households owned**.

The American household balance sheet looks very different.

US households held about **US$192.4 trillion of assets**, of which US$47.9 trillion was real estate. Housing therefore represented only around **25% of total household assets**. The remaining **75% was held outside housing**.

The comparison is important because simply comparing houses with directly owned shares understates Australian financial wealth.

Australians held about **$4.55 trillion in superannuation reserves** at the end of 2025\. Those funds ultimately own shares, bonds, infrastructure and other assets. In this comparison, superannuation is therefore included in non-housing wealth rather than being overlooked.

The result is still striking.

**More than half of Australian household assets are stored in housing, compared with only one-quarter in the United States.**

That has economic consequences.

Australian household wealth is particularly sensitive to house prices, mortgage rates, credit conditions and housing policy. American household wealth is much more heavily concentrated outside residential property and consequently more exposed to financial markets.

The countries have not simply accumulated different amounts of wealth.

They have built very different household balance sheets.

Where households store their wealth 

| Share of household assets | Australia | United States |
| ------------------------- | --------- | ------------- |
| **Housing**               | **56.3%** | **24.9%**     |
| **Non-housing assets**    | **43.7%** | **75.1%**     |

**The difference:** housing accounts for more than half of Australian household assets, but only around one-quarter of US household assets. 

Notes: Gross household assets, end-2025\. Australian housing is land and dwellings; US housing is household real estate. Australian superannuation is included within non-housing assets. Dollar values are not converted between currencies because the comparison is based on asset shares. Sources: Australian Bureau of Statistics; US Federal Reserve Financial Accounts.