Net Worth by Age Calculator
See how your net worth compares with the median for your age. US, Canadian, UK and Australian data, sourced from official national statistics.
Your comparison will appear here
Enter your age and net worth to see how you compare with the median for your age.
Net Worth vs Median
Ages 35–44You're
Above median
Median for your age
–
Difference vs median
–
Mean (average) for your age
–
Pulled up by a few very wealthy households, so it sits well above the median.
Where does this data come from? Hide details
US figures: Federal Reserve, Survey of Consumer Finances, 2022: families, by age of the reference person. Canadian figures: Statistics Canada, Survey of Financial Security, 2023: families and people living on their own, by age of the major income earner. UK figures: ONS, Wealth and Assets Survey, April 2020 to March 2022 (Great Britain only): households, by age of the household head. Australian figures: ABS, Survey of Income and Housing, 2019–20: households, by age of the reference person. Medians and means are as published by each agency, in nominal dollars (or pounds) for the survey period, not adjusted for inflation. No percentile is estimated.
How net worth grows with age
Net worth isn't a flat distribution. It scales heavily with age. In the US, the median family headed by someone under 35 has about $39,000 in net worth. By age 55–64, that jumps to $364,500. The pattern is universal: small in your 20s, accelerating through your 40s and 50s, peaking near retirement.
Three things drive that growth: compounding investment returns (your money doubling every ~10 years at historical returns), home equity (paying down a mortgage builds it; the home itself usually appreciates), and retirement contributions (401(k) and IRA balances that grow tax-advantaged).
That's why the comparison is age-relative. Being below the median at 28 isn't the same as being below it at 58. Below the median when you're young usually just means you haven't had time. Well above it in your 60s usually means decades of consistent saving plus a few good market cycles.
How to read your result
- 1
The median is for your age group
The median is the middle household in your age group: half have more, half have less. Agencies group households by the age of one person (the reference person or household head, or in Canada the major income earner), so it's a household comparison, not against the whole population. Figures are nominal for the survey year, not adjusted for inflation. We don't estimate a percentile, because the agencies' age tables don't publish one.
- 2
The number isn't fate
If you're below median, your savings rate matters more than the snapshot. Most people who are well above the median by 60 got there by steadily contributing for decades.
- 3
Track it over time
A single snapshot is a noisy data point. Tracking your net worth monthly is what makes the trend obvious, and that's what Worthy is for.
Net worth by age FAQ
Where does the data come from?
Only official national statistics. US figures come from the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), 2022, published in the Federal Reserve Bulletin (federalreserve.gov). Canadian figures come from Statistics Canada's Survey of Financial Security (SFS), 2023 (statcan.gc.ca). UK figures come from the Office for National Statistics' Wealth and Assets Survey, April 2020 to March 2022 (Great Britain only; Northern Ireland isn't surveyed) (ons.gov.uk). Australian figures come from the Australian Bureau of Statistics' Survey of Income and Housing, 2019–20 (abs.gov.au). Each is the standard government wealth survey for its country and is updated every few years.
What counts as net worth?
Everything you own (assets) minus everything you owe (liabilities). Assets include retirement accounts, brokerage, cash, real estate, vehicles, and other meaningful holdings. Liabilities include mortgages, student loans, credit card balances, and any other debt.
Why is my result lower than I expected?
Net worth is heavily skewed by age: most wealth in any country sits with people over 55. If you're under 35, the median net worth for your age is much lower than you might assume. You're compared with the median for your age group, not with the whole population.
Why do you compare with the median instead of giving me a percentile?
Because the median is what the agencies actually publish. The Federal Reserve, Statistics Canada and the Australian Bureau of Statistics publish the median and mean net worth for each age group; the ONS publishes only the median. None of the tables we use publish the full percentile breakdown by age that we'd need to place you precisely, and we don't estimate numbers the agencies don't publish. So we show whether you're above or below the middle household for your age, by how much, and the mean where one is published.
What is the difference between the median and the mean?
The median is the middle household: half have more, half have less. The mean (average) adds everyone's wealth together and divides by the number of households, so a small number of very wealthy households pull it up. That's why the mean is usually far above the median, and why the median is the better yardstick for a typical household.
Should I include my home equity?
Yes. All four surveys (SCF, SFS, the UK Wealth and Assets Survey and Australia's Survey of Income and Housing) include the market value of your home minus the mortgage. The UK and Australian figures also include private pension wealth and superannuation. So if you're comparing your number to the survey, include your home equity and retirement savings too.
Are the numbers in nominal or real dollars?
Nominal. The SCF figures are in 2022 US dollars; SFS figures are in 2023 Canadian dollars; UK figures are in pounds as reported between April 2020 and March 2022; Australian figures are in 2019–20 Australian dollars. They aren't inflation-adjusted, so today's net worth numbers will usually run higher than the survey snapshots.
Is my data private when I use this calculator?
Yes. Everything runs in your browser. We don't store your inputs, we don't send them to a server, and we don't track you across sessions.