Young Americans Are Falling Behind: Under-35 Net Worth Down 23% Since 2022 as Oldest Households Gain 37%, Fed Finds

The wealth ladder is splitting by age

Median net worth for households headed by someone under 35 fell 23% between 2022 and 2025, to about $33,000, while households headed by someone 75 or older saw a 37% increase, the largest gain of any age group. The figures come from the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances, "Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2022 to 2025," released Friday, October 9.

For the oldest families, median net worth jumped to nearly $505,000, up from just over $367,000 in 2022, making Americans 75 and older the country's wealthiest age group for the first time in the survey. Three years ago, families aged 65 to 74 held that spot. Average wealth for the oldest group rose 10% to $1.96 million.

The rest of the ladder

The moves were far smaller in the middle. Median net worth rose 5% for ages 35 to 44, fell 6% for ages 45 to 54, rose 3% for ages 55 to 64 and fell 4% for ages 65 to 74. The richest tenth of families saw median net worth soar 31% to $3.6 million.

Income told the same story: median income climbed 24% for households headed by someone 75 or older, versus a 2% increase for those under 35. The Fed attributed the oldest group's wealth gains primarily to growth in retirement accounts, while the youngest group's decline came chiefly from an unwinding of the business-equity gains built up between 2019 and 2022.

Debt stress is rising underneath

About 20% of U.S. households were behind on debt repayments in 2025, a 7 percentage point jump since 2022. "Families were more likely to be behind on their financial obligations than at any point since the 2010 survey," the Fed wrote. Roughly one in 12 families spent 40% or more of their income repaying debt, the highest share in at least 12 years.

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How this could hit the options market

A K-shaped consumer is a positioning story. If the spending power sits with older, asset-rich households while younger households fall behind on payments, traders will differentiate: watch flow in XLY and consumer lenders versus staples, and in SPY and IWM around delinquency data. Rising late payments also put credit names in focus; the Fed's line that families are more likely to be behind than at any point since the 2010 survey is the kind of datapoint that shows up in put flow before it shows up in earnings.

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