For teachers. This answer key isn't linked from the students' page or worksheet; keep this link to yourself or share it with colleagues. Its numbers are the charts' current data, so they match what students see today.
Answer key · for teachers
Figures as of November 14, 2026, from each chart's current data.
Chart 1 of 1 · Wealth
The chart's answer: In the Federal Reserve's 2025 survey, the typical (median) household headed by someone under 35 had a net worth of $32,820, and one headed by someone 35 to 44 had $156,000. The median was $254,670 for ages 45 to 54, $411,340 for 55 to 64, $431,900 for 65 to 74 and $504,600 for 75 and over, about 15 times the under-35s'. The median is the household in the middle: half have more and half less. Averages are much higher, because a few households are very rich. Net worth is what a household owns (homes, retirement accounts, stocks, businesses, cars, bank accounts) minus what it owes (mortgages, student and car loans, credit cards). The survey is taken every three years, and figures are in dollars of the survey year. People of different ages also lived through different times, so this compares age groups, not one household's path through life.
Which age group has the highest median net worth, and about how many times the under-35 group's is it?
Why might net worth keep rising through most of a working life, and why might it fall for the oldest group?
Open question: answers will vary. Look for answers that use the chart's numbers and source.
A few very rich households pull the average far above the median. Why is the median a better picture of a typical household?
Open question: answers will vary. Look for answers that use the chart's numbers and source.
Source: Federal Reserve Board, Survey of Consumer Finances (Public domain (Federal Reserve Board; cite the Board as the source)) · Data as of Dec 31, 2025 · chart.ly/charts/median-net-worth-by-age
More free charts and assignments at chart.ly/teachers