Key Takeaways
- Median household net worth is $215,900 in the Fed's 2025 survey, released October 9, 2026.
- By age, medians range from $33,000 under 35 to $504,900 for households 75 and older.
- The under-35 median fell 23% since 2022, while the 75+ median jumped 37%.
- The $1.24 million mean is skewed by very wealthy households; compare yourself to the median.
The median American household has a net worth of $215,900, according to the Federal Reserve’s new 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances, released October 9, 2026. If that number feels either way too low or suspiciously high compared to what you’d guess, you’re not alone. Most people have never seen this broken out by age, and the “average” figure everyone quotes ($1.24 million) is wildly misleading for anyone who isn’t already wealthy.
Net worth is simply everything you own minus everything you owe: home equity, retirement accounts, savings, and investments, minus your mortgage, credit cards, student loans, and other debt. Here’s how it actually breaks down by age, why the median tells a very different story than the average, and where you stand.
Median Net Worth by Age in 2026
This is the number that matters most for figuring out where you actually stand relative to your peers. Median means the exact middle of the pack: half of households in that age group have more, half have less.
| Age Group | Median Net Worth (2025 survey) | Change Since 2022 |
|---|---|---|
| Under 35 | $33,000 | -23% |
| 35–44 | $155,600 | +5% |
| 45–54 | $253,700 | -6% |
| 55–64 | $411,900 | +3% |
| 65–74 | $431,300 | -4% |
| 75+ | $504,900 | +37% |
Source: Federal Reserve, Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2022 to 2025, Table 2, in 2025 dollars.
The big surprise in the new data: households headed by someone 75 or older now have the highest median net worth of any age group, up 37% since 2022. Older households hold much of their wealth in paid-off homes and stocks, and both rose in value over those three years.
The other end moved the opposite way. The under-35 median fell 23%, to $33,000, the sharpest drop of any age group.
Average (Mean) Net Worth by Age, and Why It’s Misleading
The average, or mean, tells a very different story because it factors in every dollar of wealth in the group, including the outsized fortunes at the top.
| Age Group | Mean Net Worth (2025 survey) |
|---|---|
| Under 35 | $135,400 |
| 35–44 | $681,900 |
| 45–54 | $1,244,500 |
| 55–64 | $1,878,000 |
| 65–74 | $1,897,600 |
| 75+ | $1,962,200 |
Look at the gap: the mean for someone under 35 is about four times higher than the median for the same age group. That gap isn’t a typo. It’s the effect of a relatively small number of ultra-wealthy young households (tech founders, inheritors, early crypto winners) dragging the average way up, while the typical 30-year-old is nowhere near it.
My take: if you want an honest answer to “am I normal for my age,” use the median table. The average is really only useful for understanding total national wealth, not for benchmarking yourself.
Example: Priya, 32, has $45,000 in net worth between her 401(k), a modest emergency fund, and her car equity, after subtracting her student loans. Against the under-35 median of $33,000, she’s running well ahead of her age group, even though the $135,400 “average” for her bracket might make her feel behind.
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Where These Numbers Come From (and Why They’re From 2025)
The Federal Reserve runs the Survey of Consumer Finances only once every three years. The tables above come from the 2025 survey, which the Fed published on October 9, 2026, with every figure stated in 2025 dollars. Earlier versions of this page used 2022 survey data adjusted for inflation; these are real survey numbers.
Overall, the typical household got only slightly richer. Real median net worth rose 2% between 2022 and 2025, while the mean rose 7%, to $1,241,500. That wider gap tells you most of the gains went to households that were already wealthy. Households in the bottom 20% by income saw their median net worth fall 6%, to $14,400.
Net Worth vs. Income: They’re Not the Same Thing
I get this question a lot, so it’s worth being direct: your income and your net worth can move in completely different directions.
A household earning $250,000 a year with no retirement savings, a maxed-out home equity line, and two leased luxury cars can have a lower net worth than a household earning $70,000 that’s saved consistently for 20 years. If you want to see where your household income specifically ranks, I break that down separately in my upper middle class income thresholds guide, which covers income percentiles by state, a genuinely different metric from the net worth numbers on this page.
Example: the Torres household, both professionals earning a combined $220,000 a year, have $18,000 in net worth after 12 years of working. High income, but heavy spending and two car loans have kept their net worth thin. The Chen household, earning a combined $95,000, has $310,000 in net worth after the same 12 years, built through consistent 401(k) contributions and an extra mortgage payment each year. Same time horizon, dramatically different outcomes, because net worth tracks what you keep, not what you earn.
What Actually Drives Net Worth Growth by Age
A few patterns show up consistently in this data:
- Home equity dominates in midlife. For most households in the 45–64 range, home equity is the single largest component of net worth, often larger than retirement accounts combined.
- Retirement accounts compound hardest in the 55–74 range, as decades of contributions and compounding finally show up as large balances.
- The under-35 median is thin because of timing, not failure. Student loan balances, early-career income, and the years before home equity or retirement compounding kicks in all suppress net worth for younger households. It’s the normal shape of the curve, not a warning sign on its own.
Common Issues to Watch Out For
A few mistakes I see people make when they benchmark themselves against tables like this.
Comparing yourself to the average instead of the median. This is the single biggest distortion. The average for your age bracket can be 3-5x the median because of a small number of extremely wealthy households, so the median is almost always the fairer comparison.
Counting home value without subtracting the mortgage. Net worth uses home equity (value minus what you still owe), not the full market value of your house. Counting the gross value inflates your number significantly if you still have a large mortgage balance.
Ignoring debt entirely. Net worth is assets minus liabilities. A large 401(k) balance sitting next to $80,000 in credit card and student loan debt doesn’t make for a strong net worth position. The debt side matters just as much as the asset side.
Treating a single year’s dip as a crisis. Net worth fluctuates with market performance and home values. A down year in the stock market can meaningfully reduce net worth without reflecting any actual change in your saving habits or financial discipline.
Forgetting these are national figures. Cost of living varies enormously by region. A $250,000 net worth at age 45 looks very different in rural Mississippi (MS) than in the San Francisco Bay Area, even though the national median doesn’t adjust for that.
Looking Ahead: 2027 Outlook
The Fed’s next survey will be fielded in 2028. If it follows the usual schedule, results should come out in fall 2029, and every table on this page gets rebuilt then.
Until then, the 2025 numbers above are the official benchmark. The thing I’m watching in the meantime is whether the under-35 drop keeps going. Younger households have the least home equity and the most exposure to high rents and loan rates, so they’re the group most likely to keep falling behind in the next survey.
The rich are getting richer and so by definition everyone else is getting poorer!
So I am poor?