July 7, 2026 · Updated October 24, 2026 · 9 minute read
By Nethaven Team · Personal finance research & product team
Net Worth by Age: See Where You Stand in 2026
Median net worth by age runs from $13,223 at 18-24 to $566,490 at 80+, per the Fed's 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances. See the full table and where you rank.
Median net worth by age ranges from $13,223 at 18-24 to $566,490 at 80 and older, according to the Federal Reserve's 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances. Average figures run far higher at every age because a few very wealthy households skew the mean. Compare yourself to the median, not the average, and check your own trend over time.
Net worth benchmarks get thrown around constantly, but most of the numbers people quote are the average, not the median, and the two tell very different stories. The average net worth at 50-54 is about $1.5 million; the median is $284,442. Neither number is wrong, they are just answering different questions. This guide breaks down real Federal Reserve data by age bracket, explains why the gap between average and median is so wide, and shows how to use the numbers without letting them become a source of anxiety.
What is the average net worth by age in the U.S.?
The most current nationally representative figures come from the Federal Reserve's 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances, released on October 9, 2026 ( Federal Reserve, Survey of Consumer Finances ). The survey interviews families every three years, so these figures describe 2025 wealth, including housing and retirement assets, rather than current account balances.
| Age | Average net worth |
|---|---|
| 18-24 | $43,566 |
| 25-29 | $104,441 |
| 30-34 | $201,398 |
| 35-39 | $588,218 |
| 40-44 | $757,900 |
| 45-49 | $995,401 |
| 50-54 | $1,499,623 |
| 55-59 | $1,608,714 |
| 60-64 | $2,097,852 |
| 65-69 | $1,818,435 |
| 70-74 | $1,930,205 |
| 75-79 | $1,827,672 |
| 80+ | $2,084,607 |
What is the median net worth by age?
Median is the number where half of households sit above and half sit below, and it is the far more honest benchmark. In the Fed's 2025 survey, median net worth rises from $13,223 at 18-24 to $284,442 at 50-54, reaches $527,752 at 60-64, and is highest at 80 and older, at $566,490. The path is not smooth: 55-59 and the brackets from 65 to 74 sit below their neighbors, because each bracket is a different set of households, not one household getting older. If your number looks nothing like the average table above, this is the one to compare against instead.
| Age | Median net worth |
|---|---|
| 18-24 | $13,223 |
| 25-29 | $35,418 |
| 30-34 | $63,826 |
| 35-39 | $125,274 |
| 40-44 | $184,220 |
| 45-49 | $219,667 |
| 50-54 | $284,442 |
| 55-59 | $264,584 |
| 60-64 | $527,752 |
| 65-69 | $437,162 |
| 70-74 | $423,788 |
| 75-79 | $442,326 |
| 80+ | $566,490 |
Both tables come from the same Federal Reserve 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances data as compiled by DQYDJ and include home equity. The five-year brackets are DQYDJ's analysis of the public survey data, and the 18-24 figures rest on only 82 surveyed families, so treat that row as rough.
How did net worth by age change between 2022 and 2025?
The Federal Reserve's own report uses wider age groups and restates 2022 values in 2025 dollars, so the changes below are after inflation. Overall median family net worth rose 2% to $215,900, and the mean rose 7% to $1,241,500, according to table 2 of the Fed's 2022 to 2025 report.
| Age | Median | Median change since 2022 | Mean | Mean change since 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 35 | $33,000 | -23% | $135,400 | -33% |
| 35-44 | $155,600 | +5% | $681,900 | +13% |
| 45-54 | $253,700 | -6% | $1,244,500 | +17% |
| 55-64 | $411,900 | +3% | $1,878,000 | +10% |
| 65-74 | $431,300 | -4% | $1,897,600 | -3% |
| 75 or older | $504,900 | +37% | $1,962,200 | +10% |
| All families | $215,900 | +2% | $1,241,500 | +7% |
Two changes stand out. Families under 35 lost the most: the Fed says the drop was mainly driven by the unwinding of business equity gains made between 2019 and 2022. Families 75 and older gained the most, and for the first time in several surveys they had the highest net worth of any age group, ahead of families near or just into retirement.
If you are under 35 and your number fell over the same period, that matches the national pattern rather than signaling a personal failure. What matters more is the direction of your own trend from here.
Why is the gap between average and median net worth so large?
Wealth is not distributed evenly, a relatively small share of very high-net-worth households pulls the average far above what a typical household holds. At 50-54, average net worth is $1,499,623 while the median is $284,442, a gap of more than $1.2 million. The cross-sectional table describes different households in each age group; it does not track one household growing older.
This is the single most misused statistic in personal finance. Headlines love the average because the number is bigger and more clickable, but it tells almost no individual reader anything useful about their own situation. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau frames wealth-building around consistent saving habits, not a headline figure, and the median is the number that actually reflects those habits across real households.
How does real-time net worth data compare to the Fed's survey?
The Empower Personal Dashboard snapshot for August 2026, published September 3, reports the figures below for its users. This is platform data, not a representative sample of U.S. households. Its population, age bands, and observation date differ from the 2025 SCF, so the tables should not be treated as directly comparable or used to explain changes in national wealth.
| Decade | Average | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 20s | $163,710 | $7,420 |
| 30s | $379,216 | $28,356 |
| 40s | $854,445 | $88,236 |
| 50s | $1,521,464 | $221,300 |
| 60s | $1,747,349 | $334,064 |
Use the nationally representative SCF for U.S. household benchmarks and the dated Empower table to describe that platform's users. The difference between the two tables does not establish whether dashboard users are richer or poorer than the wider population.
What percentile is my net worth?
A single benchmark table only tells you where the midpoint sits, not exactly where your household ranks. Once you have a real number to work with, whether from portfolio tracking or a manual tally, the net worth calculator turns it into a single figure you can track over time, which matters more than any one-time comparison to a national table.
For a fuller picture of what should factor into that number, cash, debt, investments, property, and other assets, see our breakdown of what belongs in a net worth dashboard .
How can I grow my net worth faster than the average for my age?
Beating your bracket's benchmark comes down to a handful of habits repeated consistently, not a single big move.
- Track it, don't guess it. Pull accounts, investments, and debt into one net worth view so the number is real, not estimated once a year.
- Pay down high-interest debt first. Net worth is assets minus liabilities, credit card interest erodes the liabilities side faster than most investments grow the assets side.
- Automate contributions. An automatic contribution can make a saving plan easier to maintain. Returns depend on the investment and timing; automation does not guarantee better performance.
- Build home equity deliberately. Paying principal with existing cash reduces both cash and debt by the same amount, leaving immediate net worth unchanged. It can reduce future interest, but property values and investment returns remain uncertain.
- Recheck twice a year. Benchmarks move slowly; checking quarterly or annually against your own prior numbers beats chasing a table that updates every three years.
If debt is the bigger obstacle right now, our guide to snowball vs. avalanche payoff methods covers how to clear it without stalling everything else.
Common mistakes when comparing your net worth to benchmarks
- Using average instead of median. The average is skewed by a small number of very wealthy households and does not represent a typical household your age.
- Comparing gross income earners to net worth benchmarks. A high income does not equal a high net worth, see our piece on HENRY: High Earner, Not Rich Yet for why the two diverge.
- Treating a three-year-old survey as a live number. The Fed's data is authoritative but only refreshes every three years; your own number should be checked far more often.
- Panicking over a single bad year. Markets and home values move net worth up and down; the trend across several check-ins matters more than any one snapshot.
Where should your net worth be headed next?
Benchmarks are a starting point, not a verdict. What matters more is whether your own number is moving in the right direction, check to check, year to year. Nethaven pulls your accounts, investments, debt, and goals into one honest net worth figure so you can compare yourself to your own history first, and the national table second. See how it works, or run your own numbers with the net worth calculator.
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Frequently asked questions
What is a good net worth for my age?
A good benchmark is the median for your age bracket, not the average. According to DQYDJ's analysis of the Federal Reserve's 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances, median net worth is $63,826 at 30-34, $219,667 at 45-49, and $527,752 at 60-64. Beating your bracket's median means you are ahead of most households your age, no six-figure salary required.
Should I compare myself to average or median net worth?
Median, almost always. Average net worth is pulled far higher by a small number of very wealthy households. In the 50-54 bracket, average net worth is $1,499,623 but the median is only $284,442, a gap of more than $1.2 million. Median reflects what a typical household in your bracket actually has.
Why is my net worth so much lower than the average I see online?
Because most "average net worth" headlines cite the mean, which a handful of extremely wealthy households skew upward. If your net worth sits closer to the median for your age, that is normal, not a red flag. Track your own trend over time instead of chasing a mean that most people never reach.
What counts toward net worth?
Net worth is assets minus liabilities. Include cash, investments, retirement balances, gross property values, vehicles, and other assets, then subtract mortgages and other debts once. Alternatively, record home equity and omit that same mortgage from the separate debt subtraction.
At what age does net worth peak?
In the cited analysis of the 2025 SCF, median net worth is highest at 80 and older, at $566,490, and the mean peaks at 60-64, at $2,097,852. The Fed's own report also found that families 75 or older had the highest median, $504,900, a change from earlier surveys. These are different households observed in one survey, so the pattern does not establish how an individual household's wealth changes with age.
How often should I check my net worth against age benchmarks?
Once or twice a year is enough. Net worth benchmarks move slowly and the Federal Reserve only updates its Survey of Consumer Finances every three years. A quarterly or annual check-in against your own prior numbers, alongside an occasional glance at the benchmark table, is more useful than tracking daily swings.
Is real-time net worth data more accurate than the Fed's survey?
They describe different populations and dates. The SCF is a nationally representative household survey; the August 2026 Empower table describes that platform's dashboard users. The age bands also differ. A newer observation date does not make the dashboard sample a better national benchmark, and the table alone does not establish the direction of sample bias.