Average and median net worth by age
These figures come from the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), the most authoritative dataset on American household wealth. The latest full edition covers 2022 and was published in October 2023; the 2025 survey was fielded through December 2025 and its results are due in late 2026. Across all households, the 2022 average net worth was $1,063,700 and the median was $192,900.
| Age group | Average (mean) | Median | Avg ÷ median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 35 | $183,500 | $39,000 | 4.7x |
| 35 to 44 | $549,600 | $135,600 | 4.1x |
| 45 to 54 | $975,800 | $247,200 | 3.9x |
| 55 to 64 | $1,566,900 | $364,500 | 4.3x |
| 65 to 74 | $1,794,600 | $409,900 | 4.4x |
| 75 and older | $1,624,100 | $335,600 | 4.8x |
| All households | $1,063,700 | $192,900 | 5.5x |
Two reading notes. First, these are household figures, not individual ones: a married couple's combined assets and debts count as one household, grouped by the age of the household head. Second, the dollar values reflect 2022 conditions. Asset prices, especially home values and stocks, have risen since, so the true 2026 figures are likely somewhat higher across the board. Until the 2025 SCF publishes, these are the best source-verified numbers available.
Why the median is the honest number
In every single age bracket, the average is roughly four to five times the median: 4.7x for households under 35, 3.9x for ages 45 to 54, and 4.8x for 75 and older, with the overall gap at 5.5x ($1,063,700 average versus $192,900 median). That is not a statistical quirk. Wealth in the US is heavily concentrated at the top, and every ultra-wealthy household drags the arithmetic mean upward. The median, the household exactly in the middle of the distribution, ignores the outliers entirely.
Concretely: a 45-year-old with $300,000 might feel behind against the $975,800 "average" for their bracket, when they are actually ahead of the typical household, whose median is $247,200. Comparing yourself to the average means comparing yourself to a number propped up by billionaires.
This is the same pattern we found in retirement accounts specifically: in our average 401(k) balance by age breakdown, the average balance sits at roughly the 75th percentile of savers. Whenever a wealth statistic only quotes the average, assume the typical household holds far less.
What actually counts as net worth
Net worth is one subtraction: everything you own minus everything you owe. No income, no salary, no credit score. The SCF counts it the same way you should:
- Assets: cash and bank accounts, retirement accounts (401(k), IRA, pension cash value), brokerage investments, your home and other real estate at market value, vehicles, business ownership, and valuables.
- Liabilities: mortgage balances, student loans, auto loans, credit card balances, and any other debt.
The home equity question deserves an honest answer: yes, your house counts, as market value minus the mortgage balance, and for most American households home equity is the single largest component of net worth. The 2022 SCF shows how dominant it is: homeowners had a median net worth of $396,200 versus just $10,400 for renters, a gap of roughly 38x. That is why many planners also track a second number, net worth excluding home equity, which better reflects the assets you could actually spend or invest without selling the roof over your head. Track both; just be consistent about which one you are comparing.
Why the age curve looks the way it does
The shape of the table is not random. Median net worth climbs from $39,000 under 35 to a peak of $409,900 at ages 65 to 74, then falls back to $335,600 for 75 and older (all 2022 SCF). Three forces drive that arc:
- Debt-heavy 20s and 30s. Student loans, car loans, and a brand-new mortgage mean many young households own plenty of stuff but little of it outright. A $39,000 median under 35 mostly reflects balance sheets where liabilities nearly cancel assets, and for many households it is negative.
- Compounding 40s through 60s. This is where the curve steepens: the median nearly triples from $135,600 (35 to 44) to $364,500 (55 to 64). Mortgages amortize, retirement contributions have decades of growth behind them, and peak earning years fund peak saving years.
- Drawdown after retirement. Past 75, the median falls as retirees convert assets into living expenses, cover healthcare, downsize homes, and gift money to family. A declining balance in this phase is the plan working, not failing.
One caution when reading the curve: it compares different generations at one moment, not one person over a lifetime. The 65-to-74 cohort benefited from decades of home price appreciation and bull markets that younger cohorts have not yet had; your own path will not trace this exact line.
Better benchmarks than the raw average
A national dollar figure ignores the thing that most determines your wealth-building capacity: your income. Two benchmarks fix that.
1. Net worth relative to income and age. The best-known formula comes from "The Millionaire Next Door" (Stanley and Danko, 1996): expected net worth = age × annual pre-tax income ÷ 10. A 40-year-old earning $80,000 would target $320,000. Its known flaw, worth stating plainly: it is brutally unfair to young earners. A 25-year-old fresh into a $70,000 job "should" have $175,000 by the formula, which is unrealistic two years out of school, because the formula implicitly assumes you have earned near your current income for your whole adult life. Treat it as a mid-career gauge (roughly age 40 onward), not a report card for your 20s and early 30s.
2. Percentile framing. Instead of asking "am I above the average," ask "where do I sit in the distribution for my age." Beating the median for your bracket ($135,600 at 35 to 44, $247,200 at 45 to 54, per the 2022 SCF) puts you ahead of the typical household your age. For the upper tail: analyses of the 2022 SCF put the cutoff for the wealthiest 10% of all US households at roughly $1,900,000, which means even the $1,063,700 "average" household is nowhere near the top 10%.
And remember what benchmarks are for. Beating the median tells you how you rank; it does not tell you whether you can retire, because the typical household is undersaved. Your real target is the number that funds your actual planned spending, which is a personal calculation, not a national statistic.
What actually moves net worth at each life stage
Net worth responds to different levers at different ages. The moves that matter most, decade by decade:
- In your 20s: Go after high-interest debt first; a 24% credit card balance destroys net worth faster than any investment builds it. Capture your full 401(k) employer match from day one. Build a starter emergency fund so a car repair never becomes new debt. Do not fear a slightly negative net worth; with student loans it is common and temporary.
- In your 30s: Push total retirement saving toward 15% of income before lifestyle absorbs your raises. If buying a home makes sense in your market, the forced saving of a mortgage builds equity on autopilot. Keep student loan payoff on schedule or faster. Start tracking net worth itself, not just accounts, so the whole picture is visible.
- In your 40s: These are peak compounding years for new dollars: max out tax-advantaged space as income allows. Resist upgrading the house in a way that resets your mortgage clock. Check investment allocation; being too conservative at 45 costs decades of growth. Model your trajectory in the net worth calculator to see which lever moves your number most.
- In your 50s: Catch-up contributions unlock at 50; peak earnings plus emptying nests make this the classic acceleration window. Aim the mortgage payoff at your retirement date. Test whether the portfolio can already fund your lifestyle with the FIRE calculator; some 55-year-olds are closer than they think.
- In your 60s and beyond: Shift from growing net worth to protecting and sequencing it: decide your withdrawal order, your Social Security claiming age (delaying past full retirement age adds roughly 8% per year), and how home equity fits the plan. A gently declining balance is the design, not a defect.
How to track it: the quarterly snapshot ritual
Net worth is a slow-moving number, and that is exactly why tracking it works better than tracking your accounts. Checking a brokerage balance daily measures market noise; measuring net worth quarterly measures your decisions.
- Pick a fixed day, such as the first Saturday of January, April, July, and October, and put it on the calendar. The consistency matters more than the date.
- List every asset at current value: bank balances, retirement and brokerage accounts, home value (a conservative estimate is fine, just use the same method every time), vehicles, anything material.
- Subtract every liability: mortgage, student loans, auto loans, cards. The result is one number; write it down next to last quarter's.
- Judge the direction, not the level. A single quarter can be dragged down by markets. Four to eight quarters of your own history is a far better benchmark than any national table, including this one.
Twenty minutes, four times a year. Households that measure their net worth consistently tend to make the deficit visible early: the loan that is not shrinking, the account that never grows. What gets measured gets fixed.