Median Net Worth by Age: Families 75 and Older Are Now the Wealthiest, per the Federal Reserve
The Fed's Net Worth Ladder, by Age
Here is the median net worth of American families by age, per the Federal Reserve:
Under 35: $33,000. Ages 35 to 44: $156,000. Ages 45 to 54: $255,000. Ages 55 to 64: $411,000. Ages 65 to 74: $432,000. Ages 75 and older: $505,000.
The figures come from the Federal Reserve's 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances, released October 9, per the Fed. The survey is conducted every three years.
Families headed by someone 75 or older now hold the highest median net worth of any age group, at about $505,000.
Three years ago, families aged 65 to 74 were the richest. The oldest group has now passed them, per the survey.
The Youngest Families Lost Ground
Those aged 35 and below reported median net worth of $33,000, a drop of 23 percent from 2022, per the Federal Reserve. In the 2022 survey, the same group held $42,700 in inflation-adjusted terms.
The oldest families moved the other way. Median net worth for the 75 and older group jumped to nearly $505,000, up from just over $367,000 in 2022, a rise of 37 percent, per the survey.
The Fed linked much of the younger group's decline to an unwinding of earlier business equity gains, per reporting on the survey. Retirement accounts contributed substantially to the gains among older families.
The median for the oldest group is now about 15 times the median for the youngest, compared with roughly 9 times three years ago, per calculations from the survey data.
Averages Tell a Different Story Than Medians
Across all families, the median net worth was $215,900, while the mean was $1,241,500, per the Federal Reserve.
The gap between the two is the concentration story. The median net worth of the richest one-tenth of American families soared 31 percent to $3.6 million from 2022 to 2025, per the survey.
Average wealth for the oldest age group rose 10 percent to $1.96 million, per the Fed. The higher average, compared with the median, reflects wealthier Americans pulling the average up.
Housing splits the data as sharply as age. Homeowners' median net worth was $458,900, compared with $10,600 for renters, per calculations from the survey.
Incomes Rose, Unevenly
The survey also found broad gains in income, even after adjusting for inflation, per the Federal Reserve.
Median family income rose about 7 percent from 2021 to 2024 to about $82,000, per the Fed. The middle one-fifth of families saw the biggest income gain.
Higher-income families actually saw their incomes drop, likely because of declines in business income, which the Fed said can be volatile, per reporting on the survey.
Income inequality slightly narrowed compared with three years earlier, even as wealth at the top pulled away, per the Fed.
What This Means for Markets
The survey's core message for markets is where the money sits. Wealth is concentrated in older households and in retirement accounts, which supports steady, allocation-driven buying rather than speculative churn.
Funds and names to watch include SPY and QQQ for broad positioning, retirement platform and brokerage names like SCHW and HOOD, and the homebuilders, since the homeowner and renter wealth gap keeps the housing ladder central to household balance sheets.
A generation holding a $33,000 median net worth is also a generation whose first home purchase keeps getting deferred, which feeds directly into builder and lender volumes.
Bottom Line
Wealth in America now peaks after 75, and the youngest families are poorer than they were three years ago.
The Fed's triennial snapshot shows a country where the ladder still rises with age, but where the first rung just got lower.
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