U.S. Wealth Gap Hits Record 30 years High : While median middle-income wealth was flat between 2010 and 2013 -- stuck at $96,500 -- the wealth of upper-income families jumped to $639,400 from $595,300. Lower-income wealth dropped slightly to $9,300 from $10,500.

The Huffington Post |  By Maxwell Strachan Email Posted: 12/17/2014 4:30 pm EST 

Never in the 30 years since the the Federal Reserve first starting collecting wealth data has the divide between the rich and everyone else been so large, according to a new analysis by the Pew Research Center.

The wealth gap in the U.S. last year was the biggest since at least 1983, according to the report. The median wealth of upper-income families was 6.6 times that of middle-income families in 2013, up from 6.2 in 2010.

Those same upper-income families are now nearly 70 times wealthier than low-income families -- also a record gap.

Thirty years ago, the richest households’ wealth was only 3.4 times that of middle-income households. (Source: Pew Research)

There are two main reasons for the growing gulf between the rich and everyone else:stagnant middle-class wages and the rising wealth of America’s richest families. While median middle-income wealth was flat between 2010 and 2013 -- stuck at $96,500 -- the wealth of upper-income families jumped to $639,400 from $595,300. Lower-income wealth dropped slightly to $9,300 from $10,500. more