Who Carries Around Wads of $100s? A Pickpocket's Guide

A small number of people carry around big wads of cash. Who are these high rollers?
Photographer: Susana Gonzalez/Bloomberg
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Quick, how much cash is in your wallet? If you’re like the average American, barely enough for a couple of movie tickets: The median consumer carries just $22.

A handful of people roll bigger. Roughly one in five people carry more than $100. One in twenty carry a pickpocket’s dream—$100 bills—according to a new study by Claire Greene and Scott Schuh of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. They were trying to shed light on some of the biggest mysteries about U.S. currency: Where is it all? And why do certain people carry so much more than everyone else?