Average Retirement Savings in America, and 11 Other Numbers From the Federal Reserve
Among American families that have a retirement account, the median balance is $86,900. The average is $334,000. And 45.7% of families have no retirement account at all.
Those three figures come from the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances, the most detailed picture there is of what households own and owe.
Here are twelve numbers from it, each one something you can set your own figure beside. Two of them are about business owners, and one of those may surprise you.
A national number means most next to your own. Example data.
The short version
The median retirement account: $86,900. Nearly half of families have none.
The median family net worth: $192,900. The average is more than five times that.
One in five families owns a business, and most of those businesses have no employees.
The typical business with no employees was reported as having no net value.
Use the median, never the average. The average describes almost nobody.
Why the median, not the average
The average adds everyone up and divides. A small number of very large fortunes pulls it far above what most people have. The median is the middle family: half have more, half have less.
Where both are given below, look at the distance between them. That distance is the reason the question "what is normal?" so often gets a frightening answer.
Retirement and savings
54.3% of families have a retirement account, such as an IRA or a 401(k). That leaves 45.7% with none.
$86,900 is the median balance among families that have one. The average is $334,000.
$8,000 is the median held in checking, savings and similar accounts, among the 98.6% of families that have them. The average is $62,500.
56% of families said they spent less than they earned over the previous year. So 44% did not.
Homes and debt
66.1% of families own their home.
$201,000 is the median net housing value for owners: the home's value minus the debt secured on it.
42% of families have debt secured on their home, with a median of $155,600 owed.
45% of families carry a credit card balance after their last payment. The median owed is $2,700, and the average $6,100.
22% of families have student debt.
Business owners
20% of families own a privately held business or have someone self-employed. The Federal Reserve calls it the highest level on record in the modern survey.
52% of those business-owning families own a firm with no employees: sole proprietors and self-employed contractors.
$0. In the Federal Reserve's words, "the median nonemployer business owner reported no net value for their business."
Read that last one twice. For the typical business of one, the business itself is not an asset that can be sold. It is an income. What she owns is whatever that income has been turned into along the way.
That is not a criticism. A business that pays you well for twenty years has done its job. It does mean the retirement account, the home and the savings matter more for a business owner, not less, because the business is unlikely to be the nest egg.
The whole picture
Measure | Median | Average |
|---|---|---|
Family net worth | $192,900 | $1,063,700 |
Retirement accounts, among those who have them | $86,900 | $334,000 |
Checking and savings, among those who have them | $8,000 | $62,500 |
Business equity, among the 14.6% who report it | $90,000 | $1,622,500 |
Credit card balance, among those who carry one | $2,700 | $6,100 |
In every row the average is several times the median. If you have ever read that the average American has a million dollars and wondered what you did wrong, this table is the answer. You were being compared with a figure that describes very few people.
For a business of one, the personal side is where the wealth is kept. Example data.
Modeled in La Soglia: your column
The useful version of this list has a third column. Here is one owner's, entered in the free Net Worth Tracker.
Line | National median | Her figure |
|---|---|---|
Retirement accounts | $86,900 | $52,000 |
Checking and savings | $8,000 | $11,500 |
Net housing value | $201,000 | $118,000 |
Credit card balance | $2,700 | $4,200 |
Net worth | $192,900 | $177,300 |
She is above the middle on cash and below it on retirement, and now she knows which. That is more useful than a general feeling of being behind. Next quarter she will have a fourth column: her own figures, three months on.
Four things to do with this list
Write your own figure beside each line. A rough one is fine.
Circle the one line that is furthest below the median. Just one.
If you own a business of one, ask what it would sell for. If the honest answer is nothing, your saving has to happen outside it.
Do it again in three months. The comparison that counts is with yourself.
See your own column, free
La Soglia, the free membership of the Money Mastery System, includes the Net Worth Tracker used above. Every account, your home, your business and your debts sit in one place, with no bank connection and no card. For this year's contribution limits, see our list of 2026 retirement limits for the self-employed.
Bring it to the Collective
Which line surprised you most? The Money Mastery Collective has a discussion feed open on the free membership. Tell us there.
Questions we hear
What is the average retirement savings in America?
Among families with a retirement account, the median is $86,900 and the average is $334,000, in the Federal Reserve's 2022 survey. 45.7% of families have no retirement account.
What is the median net worth of an American family?
$192,900 in the 2022 survey. The average is $1,063,700, lifted by a small number of very wealthy households.
How many Americans own a business?
20% of families own a privately held business or include someone self-employed, and 52% of those own a firm with no employees.
Why is the average so much higher than the median?
A small number of very large fortunes raises the average. The median is the middle family and is the better comparison.
References
Every national figure is from the Federal Reserve Board, Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2019 to 2022: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances (October 2023), the most recent survey released. The survey runs every three years, so these figures will be updated. The owner's column is our own worked example.
Start free with La Soglia
La Soglia is the free membership of the Money Mastery System. It gives you the Net Worth Tracker, where everything you own and everything you owe sits in one place, and the Money Mastery Collective. There is no card to enter and no bank connection.
Keep in touch
Donna shares a short version of posts like this one on Instagram and LinkedIn. Follow along there, or find everything in one place on our links page.
A note on what this is
This article is educational. The Money Mastery System is an educational tool, not financial software, and nothing here is legal, tax, investment or financial advice. National medians describe households in general and say nothing about what is right for yours. For guidance on your own circumstances, please speak with a qualified professional who knows them.
Comments