Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about how the tool works, where the data comes from, and what it means.
What is How Poor Am I?
How Poor Am I? is a free, open-source tool that shows where you stand in your country's wealth distribution. Enter your income or net wealth and instantly see your percentile, how your wealth compares to the national median, and how long it would take you to match the richest person in your country.
How is my wealth percentile calculated?
Your percentile is calculated using piecewise linear interpolation on wealth distribution data from WID.world (World Inequality Database). The data provides wealth shares for specific percentile groups (bottom 50%, middle 40%, top 10%, top 1%, etc.), and we interpolate between these points to estimate where your net wealth falls within the distribution.
What counts as net wealth?
Net wealth is your total assets minus your total debts. Assets include property, investments, savings, pensions, and any other valuables. Debts include mortgages, student loans, car loans, credit card debt, and any other liabilities. The resulting figure. Positive or negative. Is what determines your position in the wealth distribution.
Is my data stored or sent anywhere?
No. Everything runs entirely in your browser. Your income, wealth, and personal details are never sent to any server. There are no cookies, no tracking scripts, and no analytics. All calculations run in your browser. No data is sent to any server.
Should I enter my pre-tax or post-tax income?
Enter your gross (pre-tax) income. The underlying WID.world data uses pre-tax national income, which includes wages, capital income (dividends, interest, rental income), and imputed corporate profits. Before any taxes or social contributions are deducted. This is typically 30-50% higher than take-home pay. If you only know your post-tax income, multiply it by roughly 1.3-1.5 depending on your country's tax rates.
How accurate is the income-to-wealth estimate?
It is an approximation. When you enter your income instead of net wealth directly, the tool uses up to 18 factors. Including age, homeownership, savings rate, and debt. To estimate your likely net wealth. A range is shown to reflect the inherent uncertainty. For the most accurate result, enter your net wealth directly.
Why does my standing change when I change my education level?
Education level is used as a statistical proxy for wealth accumulation patterns, not as a direct measure of worth. Data from the U.S. Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) and similar studies consistently show that college graduates hold 3-4x the net wealth of non-graduates at the same income level. This correlation reflects factors like savings rates, investment behavior, career trajectory, inheritance likelihood, and access to employer-sponsored retirement plans. Not education itself causing wealth.
Is this based on individuals or households?
The underlying WID.world data uses per-adult figures with the equal-split method for couples. Meaning each partner in a couple is assigned half the household's total wealth. This is the standard approach in inequality research. When you enter your wealth, enter YOUR share of joint assets (typically half if you share finances with a partner). The population denominator is adults aged 20+, not total population including children.
How should I enter pensions and retirement savings?
If you receive annual pension income as a retiree, enter it in the main income field (gross, pre-tax). If you have a private pension pot, 401k, superannuation, or other retirement savings account, enter its current total value in the 'Pension pot / 401k balance' field in the refinement panel. Public pension entitlements (like Social Security or state pensions) are excluded from the WID.world wealth data because they are not transferable or sellable.
Where does the data come from?
All data is fetched programmatically from public APIs by a single open-source script. Wealth shares, income shares, mean/median wealth, and Gini coefficients come from the WID.world API (World Inequality Database). Population data comes from the World Bank API. Exchange rates come from the European Central Bank. Billionaire net worth comes from the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires list. Tax rate data is the one exception. It is manually compiled from academic papers and government tax statistics.
Why does the bottom 50% own so little?
Wealth is far more concentrated than income. The bottom 50% in most countries holds between 1% and 5% of total wealth. This happens because wealth accumulates over time through asset appreciation (property, stocks), inheritance, and compound returns. Mechanisms that disproportionately benefit those who already have capital. Meanwhile, many people carry debts that offset or exceed their assets, leaving them with zero or negative net wealth.
How is the billionaire comparison calculated?
It is a simple division: the billionaire's net worth divided by your annual income gives the number of years it would take you to earn the equivalent amount (before taxes, with no spending). The result is then expressed in relatable units. Years, lifetimes, or historical eras. To make the scale of the gap tangible.
Can wealth inequality be reduced?
Economists and policymakers have proposed a range of approaches, including progressive taxation on income and capital gains, inheritance and estate taxes, universal basic assets or savings programs, broader access to education and homeownership, and stronger labor protections. Each approach has trade-offs, and outcomes depend heavily on implementation. This tool does not advocate for any specific policy. It aims to make the data visible so people can form their own views.
Is this financial advice?
No. How Poor Am I? is an educational tool designed to visualize wealth inequality data. It does not provide financial, tax, or investment advice. For personal financial decisions, consult a qualified financial advisor.
How often is the data updated?
All data is fetched at build time from public APIs. No external calls are made when you use the tool. The fetch script can be re-run at any time to pull the latest data from WID.world, World Bank, ECB, and Forbes. In practice, the underlying research databases are updated annually, so the data typically reflects the most recent available year for each country (2022-2024 depending on the variable and country).
Is How Poor Am I? open source?
Yes. The entire codebase is open source under the MIT License. You can inspect the data processing pipeline, suggest improvements, report bugs, or run your own instance. The repository is available on GitHub at github.com/yrunhaar/howpoorami.