How comparatively rich are Americans?

[SpicyMcVoodoo]

So I understand we're the richest nation in the world. I assume people come to that conclusion by looking at GDP. But what does this really say about the relative wealth of the average American?

I was looking at the CIA world fact book, and the economy of countries shows GDP and per capita GDP. But who cares about per capita GDP? A country's wealth is not evenly divided per capita.

For a realistic picture of what life is like for the average citizen of a given country, wouldn't we want to see the median income, not average? If you look at average income or GDP per capita, aren't you going to get a skewed picture since disparities in wealth will hide themselves under averages and per capita measurements?

I'd like to see a measurement which looks at median income, and then takes into account public services and tax rates to approximate a legitimate comparisons of wealth between countries. Does anyone have a link or something?