Average Net Worth by Age in the U.S. (And Why Medians Matter More)
By the Stoia team · August 1, 2026 · 8 min read
"Am I doing okay for my age?" is the most human question in personal finance, and most answers to it are designed to make you feel bad. Here are the real numbers, what they do and don't mean, and the only comparison that actually helps. (Want your own number first? The net worth calculator takes about a minute.)
The numbers
The best data comes from the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances, the deep survey it runs every three years (2022 survey, released late 2023, is the most recent full edition). Figures are per household, by the age of its head:
| Age of householder | Median net worth | Average (mean) net worth |
|---|---|---|
| Under 35 | $39,000 | $183,500 |
| 35–44 | $135,600 | $549,600 |
| 45–54 | $247,200 | $975,800 |
| 55–64 | $364,500 | $1,566,900 |
| 65–74 | $409,900 | $1,794,600 |
| 75+ | $335,600 | $1,624,100 |
Prices and portfolios have moved since the survey window, but the shape of the curve (steep climb through the 40s and 50s, peak near retirement, gentle decline after) is stable across every edition.
Median vs. average: the whole story in one gap
Notice the average for under-35s is more than four times the median. That's not a typo; it's concentration. A small number of very wealthy households drag the mean up, while the median (the household exactly in the middle) tells you what typical looks like. When an article says "the average American your age has $549,600," it is technically true and practically useless. Compare yourself to medians if you must compare at all.
What actually drives the curve
- Under 35: student debt and first paychecks. The median is low because careers are young; a positive number at all puts you ahead of many peers.
- 35–54: the compounding decades. Home equity and retirement accounts do most of the work; this is where consistent investing separates households (see the curve in the compound interest calculator).
- 55+: peak earning years meet decades of growth. The later decline isn't failure; it's retirees spending what the money was for.
The comparison that actually helps
Your zip code, industry, household size, and starting point make national medians a blunt yardstick. The comparison with signal is you, twelve months ago. A net worth that grows most years, through contributions when markets are flat and through markets when they aren't, is the entire game. That requires actually measuring it: count everything you own (including the accounts you forget), subtract everything you owe, and repeat. Our step-by-step guide covers the details, and Stoia is being built to do the repeating automatically, across every asset class, so the trend line writes itself.
If your number disappoints you
Medians are population statistics, not verdicts. The mechanical moves are unglamorous and effective: raise the savings rate a few points (the 50/30/20 calculator finds the room), point the surplus at high-interest debt (the debt payoff calculator picks the order), and let time do the part you can't rush. The curve above belongs to households that mostly did exactly that.