What is the median household net worth by age?

The chart

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.

The lesson

How to read this chart

Each bar is the median net worth of households, grouped by the age of the person who heads them. Net worth is what a household owns, such as a home, savings and retirement accounts, minus what it owes, such as a mortgage or student loans. The median is the household in the middle: half have more and half have less.

Questions to discuss

1. Which age group has the highest median net worth, and about how many times the under-35 group's is it?
2. Why might net worth keep rising through most of a working life, and why might it fall for the oldest group?
3. A few very rich households pull the average far above the median. Why is the median a better picture of a typical household?

Share it with your class

Post this link in Google Classroom, Canvas or Moodle. Students see the chart, how to read it and the questions; they don't need an account.