Setting a record gap, the net worth of America’s wealthiest households in 2009 was 225 times greater than the median family net worth, according to federal data analyzed by the Economic Policy Institute.

Find this chart and others at www.epinet.org.

Wealth, or net worth, is a measure of a family’s total assets, including real estate, bank account balances, stock holdings and retirement funds, minus all liabilities. Those include mortgages, student loans, and credit card debt.

EPI explains that economic inequality goes beyond income inequality, even though it’s often described that way in media reports. “While wages and income provide some indication of a family’s ability to afford essentials like housing, food, and health care, accumulated assets, or wealth, can make it easier for them to invest in education and training, start a business, fund a retirement, and otherwise invest in their future,” EPI says.

Because accumulated assets also provide a cushion against job loss and other financial emergencies, economists say the “growing wealth disparity shows why some households are more devastated by unemployment, illness and other factors that cause a temporary loss of income.”

The net worth gap figures will be part of EPI’s forthcoming “State of Working America” report. Read more snapshots from the report at www.epinet.org.