Real Federal Reserve benchmarks, and why thrift alone oversells the case
Last reviewed September 21, 2026.
Net worth means your assets minus your debts. The Federal Reserve measures it every three years in the Survey of Consumer Finances. That survey is the best public record of household wealth in the United States.
Most articles quote the mean. The mean misleads. A few billionaires pull it upward. It therefore describes almost nobody. The median splits households in half. Read the median instead.
The list below reports the median net worth of households in the 2022 survey. Each line covers one age band.
Across every household, the median was $192,900. The mean was $1,063,700. That gap runs more than five to one.
The spread widens over a lifetime. Among households aged 65 to 74, the median sits near $410,000. The mean for that same group passes $1.79 million. Half of those older households have not reached half a million dollars.
Under 35: $39,000
Ages 35 to 44: $135,600
Ages 45 to 54: $247,200
Ages 55 to 64: $364,500
Ages 65 to 74: $409,900
Age 75 and older: $335,600
Ramsey Solutions surveyed more than 10,000 millionaires in late 2017. The study reports that 94% live below their means. It also reports that 93% use coupons. Those findings travel far. They support one tidy claim: thrift builds wealth.
The study cannot support that claim. It interviewed only people who already arrived. Nobody counted the frugal households that never reached a million dollars. Without that second group, the survey cannot link any habit to the outcome.
Coupon use may run higher among people who need the savings. The survey cannot tell you either way. A finding needs a comparison group before it becomes a cause.
The same study reports numbers that point elsewhere. Among those millionaires, 88% finished college. Only 38% of the wider public did. More than half hold a master's degree or a doctorate. The most common careers were engineer, accountant, and teacher. Manager and lawyer followed close behind.
Those careers describe earning power. Thrift is the habit you can see. Income is the engine underneath it.
Your savings rate depends on two numbers. Your income sets one. Your spending sets the other. Spending has a floor. Rent and groceries cost real money. Income has no ceiling.
Economists measured this. Dynan, Skinner, and Zeldes found that richer households save a larger share of their income. Frugality buys more at $180,000 than at $45,000.
Two other forces get little attention here. Edward Wolff found that about 30% of households inherit money during their lives. Those transfers make up close to 40% of their net worth late in life.
Asset prices did the rest. Home equity and index funds climbed hard after 2012. Many households crossed a million dollars by owning assets. They did not cut their way there.
The figures above come from the 2022 survey, the most recent one published. The Federal Reserve fielded the next wave during 2025. Publication follows late in 2026. Treat every benchmark here as a snapshot rather than a live number.
Comes from a Federal Reserve survey rather than a marketing sample
The median describes a household in the actual middle
Age bands let you compare against your own decade
Counts every asset, including home equity and retirement accounts
Published on a fixed three-year schedule
One national median hides wide gaps between regions
The number includes your home equity, which pays no bills
The figures predate the most recent housing and market moves
Net worth says nothing about income, job security, or health costs
A benchmark cannot tell you whether your own plan is working
A benchmark is a starting point, not a verdict. Find the median for your age band. Then ask what explains your gap.
Savers under 40: The median under 35 sits near $39,000. A small number early on is normal rather than a failure.
Mid-career households: The median climbs fastest between 45 and 64. Your savings rate and your home drive most of that climb.
People near retirement: Half of households aged 65 to 74 hold less than $410,000. Measure your plan against your own costs, not against a headline.
Anyone who just watched a net worth video: Check whether the quoted number is a median or a mean. That one word changes the whole story.
Add up what you own: Count your cash, your home, and every account you hold. Use current market values rather than the price you paid.
Subtract what you owe: List every debt you carry, from the mortgage down to the cards. What remains is your net worth.
Find your age band: Compare your number against the median for your decade. Ignore the mean entirely.
Look at the drivers: Income, savings rate, and home ownership explain most of the gap. Coupons explain very little of it.
Check the date on any benchmark: Wealth figures go stale fast. Check the year behind any number you read.