“The average net worth of the lower half of the distribution, representing 62 million households, was $11,000 in 2013. About one-fourth of these families reported zero wealth or negative net worth, and a significant fraction of those said they were '‘underwater' on their home mortgages, owing more than the value of the home. This $11,000 average is 50% lower than the average wealth of the lower half of families in 1989, adjusted for inflation.”
Source : Janet Yellen's Speech At the Conference on Economic Opportunity and Inequality at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston in Boston, Massachusetts, www.federalreserve.gov. October 17, 2014.