Average Net Worth by Age (2026): How Old Is That Number?
The newest published federal figures describe 2022, not 2026. Median net worth runs from $39,000 under 35 to $409,900 at 65 to 74. The mean runs four to five times higher at every age, which is why it describes almost nobody.
Search for average net worth by age and you will find a dozen pages with 2026 in the title. Almost none of them puts a year on the data. That matters more than it sounds.
The Survey of Consumer Finances, the source nearly every one of those pages is quoting at first or third hand, runs once every three years. The most recent published results describe 2022. This page gives you the table, and the two things you need before it means anything: how old the number is, and what it counts.
What is the average net worth by age in America?
Here are the most recent published figures. Read the survey year column first.
| Age of reference person | Median net worth | Mean net worth | Survey year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 35 | $39,000 | $183,500 | 2022 |
| 35 to 44 | $135,600 | $549,600 | 2022 |
| 45 to 54 | $247,200 | $975,800 | 2022 |
| 55 to 64 | $364,500 | $1,566,900 | 2022 |
| 65 to 74 | $409,900 | $1,794,600 | 2022 |
| 75 or older | $335,600 | $1,624,100 | 2022 |
Federal Reserve, Survey of Consumer Finances, Table 2, published October 2023. Figures in 2022 dollars. As of September 2026 this is the most recent published survey.
Two things to notice before you compare yourself to any row. The gap between median and mean is enormous, four to five times rather than the roughly double you will sometimes see claimed. And every figure was collected four years ago. Neither fact makes the table useless. Both change how you should read it.
Why the average is four to five times the median
Because the mean is dragged upward by the top of the distribution, while the median is simply the middle household.
Federal Reserve, Survey of Consumer Finances 2022, published October 2023, read 21 September 2026. The bar between the two dots is the distance between the middle household and the average, which no household actually holds.
The distribution is least lopsided in the 45 to 54 bracket at 3.9 times, and most lopsided at 75 or older at 4.8 times. That is not a headline anyone else runs, and it is a useful corrective: at every age, the average American household is nowhere near the average.
If a page hands you a mean and calls it typical, it is not describing anyone.
How old is this data, really?
Four years old, and it is still the newest there is.
- 2022Survey fielded
The Federal Reserve interviews a representative sample of US families, oversampling wealthy households because wealth is so concentrated.
- October 2023Results published
The bulletin Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2019 to 2022 appears, roughly a year after fielding, in 2022 dollars.
- September 2026Still the most recent release
No newer survey has been published. Every article dated 2026 that quotes these figures is quoting the 2022 survey, whether or not it says so.
Federal Reserve, Survey of Consumer Finances index, checked 21 September 2026. The survey is triennial, so the lag between measurement and publication runs to years rather than months.
A reasonable objection: this is self-reported survey data. It is, and the method of oversampling wealthy households is the reason its mean figures are credible rather than a reason to doubt them.
The practical upshot is that the 2022 figures span a period in which house prices and index funds both moved a long way. Treat them as a well-measured snapshot of four years ago, not a live reading.
What actually counts inside net worth?
Everything you own minus everything you owe. The arguments are all about the first half, and this is where a self-tally and a published benchmark stop measuring the same thing.
| Item | In the Fed's survey? | In a typical online tally? |
|---|---|---|
| Cash, checking, savings | Yes | Usually |
| Retirement accounts (401(k), IRA) | Yes | Usually |
| Brokerage and other investments | Yes | Usually |
| Primary residence, equity not market value | Yes | Often mis-entered as full value |
| Vehicles | Yes | Often omitted |
| Business ownership stake | Yes | Usually omitted |
| 529 and Coverdell education accounts, HSAs | Yes, within savings accounts | Sometimes |
| Defined-benefit pension entitlement | No, explicitly excluded | Almost never |
| Social Security entitlement | No, explicitly excluded | Almost never |
| Mortgage, student loans, card balances, auto loans | Subtracted | Usually |
Treatment of each category read from the Survey of Consumer Finances bulletin and its appendix B definitions, September 2026.
The house is the one that trips most people. Your net worth includes your equity, not the price you could list at. Enter the full value and forget the loan and you have inflated your own number by the size of your mortgage.
The pension line is the one that quietly moves the comparison. The Fed excludes both Social Security and employer defined-benefit plans from the assets it measures, so a teacher or a firefighter with a substantial pension entitlement can appear well down this table while being in good shape. The benchmark is not wrong; it is measuring something narrower than retirement security.
Want a like-for-like comparison? Run your number through the net worth percentile calculator, which is built on the same survey definitions as the table above.
Where you actually rank
Being below average is the normal condition. When the mean sits four times above the median, most households are below the mean by definition. That is arithmetic, not a verdict.
Percentile is the more useful question, because it tells you what share of households you are ahead of rather than comparing you to a figure no real household holds. Our guide to net worth percentiles works through where the thresholds sit; this page is about the average and why it misleads.
Two cautions before you go looking. Compare like with like, because your tally has to use the same definitions as the benchmark or the comparison is noise. And compare against the median for your own age bracket rather than the whole population.
What moves the number over ten years
Three levers, and the third is the one people underrate.
- Savings rate. What you put aside out of take-home pay, consistently. The relevant figure is take-home rather than salary, and what you actually keep varies by state.
- Debt paydown. Every dollar off a mortgage or a card balance lifts net worth by a dollar with no market risk attached. On high-rate debt this is usually the highest-certainty return available to a household.
- Time in market. The least glamorous and the most powerful over a decade. Run the numbers on contributions compounding.
What is not on that list is picking better investments. Over a ten-year horizon, for most households, the first three account for far more of the outcome than security selection does.
How to tally your own, in ten minutes
Use the same definitions as the table above or the comparison will not hold.
- Cash. Checking, savings, money market.
- Retirement accounts. Every 401(k) including old employers' plans, plus every IRA. A single plan balance is not your retirement total.
- Other investments. Brokerage, HSA balances, education accounts.
- Home equity. Current market value minus the outstanding mortgage. Equity only.
- Vehicles. Realistic resale value, not what you paid.
- Business stake. If you own part of a business, its value to you.
- Subtract everything you owe. Mortgage, student loans, auto loans, card balances, personal loans. The debt payoff calculator will total that side for you.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good net worth for my age?
There is no target, only a distribution. The median for your age bracket tells you where the middle sits and a percentile tells you where you sit. Neither is a pass mark. Anyone quoting a single figure you should have by a given age is quoting a rule of thumb, not a finding.
Does net worth include your house?
It includes your equity, meaning current market value minus the outstanding mortgage, not the full market value. The Survey of Consumer Finances counts primary residence equity this way. Entering the full value without subtracting the loan is the most common self-tally error.
Does net worth include your 401(k)?
Yes, in the standard definition and in the Fed's survey. Be aware that a traditional 401(k) balance is pre-tax money, so the figure on your statement is not what you would keep after withdrawal. The benchmark has the same feature, so the comparison still holds.
Is average or median net worth more useful?
Median, for anyone asking about themselves. The mean sits about four to five times higher in every age bracket because it is pulled up by the top of the distribution. The median describes the middle household; the mean describes no household in particular.
How old is the net worth data on most websites?
Usually older than the title suggests. The Survey of Consumer Finances runs every three years and results appear about a year after fielding. As of September 2026 the newest published survey describes 2022, so a 2026 in a headline is generally a publication date rather than a data date.
What is the median net worth of a 35-year-old?
The survey publishes brackets rather than single ages, and 35 sits at the bottom edge of the 35 to 44 bracket whose median is $135,600. Someone who has just turned 35 will typically be nearer the under-35 median of $39,000. Do not read a bracket median as a figure for its youngest members.
Does net worth include a pension?
Not a traditional defined-benefit pension. The Fed states plainly that Social Security and employer-sponsored defined-benefit plans are excluded from the assets it measures. Account-based retirement savings such as a 401(k) or IRA are included, which is why a public-sector worker with a large pension can look poor in this data.
Why is my net worth below average?
Because average here means the mean, and the mean sits four to five times above the median in every age bracket. Most households are below it, which is what a distribution with a long upper tail looks like. Compare yourself to the median, or to a percentile.
Researching and writing about Canadian personal finance since 2026.
Last reviewed September 2026 · How we research
“Average Net Worth by Age (2026): How Old Is That Number?.” Vault Nerd, https://www.vaultnerd.com/learn/average-net-worth-by-age, updated September 2026.
- Federal Reserve Board, Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2019 to 2022, published October 2023: Table 2 median and mean family net worth by age of reference person, in 2022 dollars
- Federal Reserve Board, Survey of Consumer Finances appendix B: asset and liability definitions, including the exclusion of Social Security and employer defined-benefit plans and the inclusion of 529, Coverdell and health savings accounts within savings accounts
- Federal Reserve Board, Survey of Consumer Finances index, confirming the 2022 survey is the most recent published release as of 21 September 2026
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