Average Net Worth by Age in America

The median US household has a net worth of about $192,700. The average is $1,059,500 — more than five times higher. Both numbers come from the Federal Reserve's 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances, the most authoritative wealth dataset in the country. The gap between those two numbers is the most important thing on this page.

The data: net worth by age group

Every three years the Fed surveys about 4,500 households in painstaking detail — assets, debts, income, the full picture. The 2022 wave is the most recent published. Here's the median, 25th, 75th, and 90th percentile of household net worth by age of the head of household:

| Age | 25th percentile | Median | 75th percentile | 90th percentile | |---|---|---|---|---| | Under 25 | -$3,500 | $9,400 | $33,300 | $96,000 | | 25–29 | $1,200 | $30,500 | $121,000 | $320,000 | | 30–34 | $13,700 | $90,400 | $257,000 | $642,000 | | 35–39 | $30,100 | $138,600 | $388,000 | $940,000 | | 40–44 | $24,600 | $134,400 | $462,000 | $1,300,000 | | 45–49 | $38,900 | $247,200 | $658,000 | $1,800,000 | | 50–54 | $60,100 | $281,000 | $825,000 | $2,350,000 | | 55–59 | $78,400 | $364,300 | $1,015,000 | $2,900,000 | | 60–64 | $100,600 | $393,500 | $1,108,000 | $3,200,000 | | 65–69 | $138,800 | $410,000 | $1,175,000 | $3,400,000 | | 70–74 | $145,200 | $457,800 | $1,150,000 | $3,250,000 | | 75+ | $124,300 | $335,600 | $920,000 | $2,700,000 |

Source: Federal Reserve 2022 SCF, via DQYDJ's analysis of the public microdata. Figures are nominal 2022 dollars and include all assets minus all debts — home equity, retirement accounts, cars, business interests, the lot. The 95th and 99th percentiles are noisier because the wealthiest households are statistically hard to sample; the median and the 75th are the reliable numbers.

Why the median matters more than the average

In every age bucket the average net worth is dramatically higher than the median. The all-ages average is $1.06M; the all-ages median is $193k. A household at the average is wealthier than roughly 80% of all households.

The reason is the long right tail. A handful of households with hundreds of millions or billions of dollars pulls the average upward without changing the median at all. When the math is this skewed, the average isn't a useful "typical" — it's a description of how lopsided the distribution is. The median is what you want when you're asking "where is the middle?"

If you want to see where you specifically land relative to others your age — not the average, but your actual percentile — our net worth percentile calculator does the math from these same tables. Type in your age and net worth and it returns the percentile in the right column above.

What "good" net worth looks like at each life stage

The medians above are descriptive, not prescriptive. They tell you what the middle person in each age group has — not what you should have. But the pattern across the table tells the story of a typical wealth trajectory in the US, and a few life-stage anchors are worth pulling out.

In your 20s, the median jumps from essentially zero (under 25: $9,400) to about $30,500 (ages 25–29). Most of that gain is paying down student debt and starting to fund a 401(k) match. Owning a home is rare; the asset side is mostly cash and early retirement contributions. You're doing fine if you're solidly out of consumer debt and contributing to retirement at all.

In your 30s, the median climbs to about $138,600 by ages 35–39. The change is usually buying a home and a few years of compounding inside retirement accounts. The 75th percentile pulls way ahead here ($388,000) — that's typically dual-earner households with both a paid-down mortgage and consistent retirement saving. You're doing fine if you have a clear retirement-savings rate (10–15% of income is the common target) and any home equity is treated as illiquid.

In your 40s, the median dips slightly between 40–44 ($134,400) and rises again toward the end of the decade ($247,200 by 45–49). The dip largely reflects the cost of raising children — household balance sheets temporarily plateau before peak earning years bail them out. You're doing fine if your retirement balance is roughly 3–4× your annual income by 45.

In your 50s, wealth typically peaks. The median crosses $280k by 50–54 and $364k by 55–59. This is the decade when retirement-account compounding does the heavy lifting and consumer debts have mostly been retired. The 90th percentile reaches $2.3M–$2.9M — that's the upper-middle-class household with a paid-off house and consistent saving since their 30s.

In your 60s, the median hits its lifetime high (about $393,500 at 60–64, $410,000 at 65–69) and then plateaus. People begin drawing down, but they're also receiving Social Security and pension income that keeps the balance sheet steady. You're doing fine if you're roughly on track for the 4% safe-withdrawal rule on your spending.

What's been driving the recent numbers

Between the 2019 and 2022 SCF waves, US median household net worth rose 37% in real terms — the largest three-year jump on record. Two things drove it: home equity (housing prices rose sharply during the pandemic) and equity-market gains (the S&P 500 was up substantially over the same period). The next SCF was conducted in 2025; results are expected in late 2026 and may look very different depending on what happened to housing and stocks since.

How to calculate your own percentile

The medians on this page are about a typical household. They don't tell you where you stand. For that, our net worth percentile calculator takes your age and net worth and shows your exact percentile within your age cohort plus the overall US distribution. As one concrete example: a 35-year-old with a net worth of $200,000 is roughly at the 70th percentile for their age group — comfortably above the median, well below the top decile of $940,000.

If "average net worth" was a useful starting point, how much money is actually considered rich in America is the natural follow-on — the median is the middle; "rich" lives further up the curve, and the gap between intuition and data there is much wider than most people guess.

Frequently asked questions

What's included in net worth?

Everything you own (cash, retirement accounts, taxable investments, home equity, vehicles, business interests, valuables) minus everything you owe (mortgage, student loans, auto loans, credit cards). The Fed's SCF figures include home equity, which is the biggest single asset for most middle-class households. If you'd rather measure your "investable" net worth (excluding the house), subtract your home equity from the totals above when you compare.

Why is my net worth so different from the average?

Because the average is pulled upward by a small number of extremely wealthy households. The all-ages US mean is $1.06M, but the all-ages median is $192,700 — most households are nowhere near the mean. The median is the better reference point for "where do I stand."

How often is this data updated?

The Federal Reserve runs the Survey of Consumer Finances every three years. The most recent published wave is 2022 (released October 2023). The 2025 wave was conducted last year; results are expected in late 2026.

What's a good net worth for my age?

There's no official answer, but a common rule of thumb is that your net worth should be at least your age × annual income × 10%. At 40 with a $100k income, that's $400k. The medians in the table above tell you what's typical; the rule of thumb tells you what's broadly on track. Use the calculator if you want the actual percentile rather than the rule.