The 2025 figures
The Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) is a household survey run by the Federal Reserve Board every three years. Its 2025 results, released in October 2026, report family net worth in 2025 dollars, grouped by the age of the family’s reference person.
| Age group | Median | Mean | Mean ÷ median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 35 | 33.0 | 135.4 | 4.1× |
| 35–44 | 155.6 | 681.9 | 4.4× |
| 45–54 | 253.7 | 1,244.5 | 4.9× |
| 55–64 | 411.9 | 1,878.0 | 4.6× |
| 65–74 | 431.3 | 1,897.6 | 4.4× |
| 75 and over | 504.9 | 1,962.2 | 3.9× |
| All families | 215.9 | 1,241.5 | 5.8× |
Source: Federal Reserve Board, Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2022 to 2025, Table 2. The ratio column is our own arithmetic from the published figures.
Why the mean is four to five times the median
The median is the middle family: half of families in the group have less, half have more. The mean is the total net worth of the group divided by the number of families. A relatively small number of very wealthy families raises the mean a great deal but moves the median very little.
The survey’s own percentile table shows how uneven the distribution is. For all families in 2025, the median for the top 10% of the wealth distribution was 4,935,200, while the mean for that group was 8,975,200. For the bottom quarter, the mean was −4,300. With a spread like that, the mean describes no typical family. For most comparisons, the median is the more useful reference.
How to compare yourself fairly
- Use the same definition. The SCF counts gross assets minus liabilities, including home equity, vehicles and retirement accounts. Calculate yours the same way before comparing.
- Compare households, not individuals. The figures are per family. If you share finances with a partner, compare your combined figure. See household vs individual net worth.
- Use the right age. Groups are based on the age of the reference person, not every adult in the home.
- Remember the currency and country. These are U.S. figures in 2025 dollars. Outside the United States they are context, not a benchmark.
- Read a range, not a rank. The published groups are wide. The data cannot say which exact percentile a 37-year-old is in. Our percentile guide explains what the Fed does and does not publish.
What the table cannot tell you
- It is not a target. Being above or below a median says nothing about whether your plan fits your goals.
- It is a snapshot of different people in 2025, so it does not show how one family’s wealth grows with age.
- It mixes homeowners and renters, whose net worth differs widely; see homeowner vs renter net worth.
- Survey estimates have sampling error. The Fed reports a standard error of 6.4 thousand dollars for the all-families median.
How 2025 compares with 2022
For all families, the median rose from 211.1 thousand in 2022 to 215.9 thousand in 2025, and the mean from 1,164.1 thousand to 1,241.5 thousand. Both are in 2025 dollars, so the change is after adjusting for inflation.
Questions people ask
Which figure should I compare with?
Usually the median, because it describes the middle family. The mean is useful for understanding the gap between typical and very wealthy households.
Why do the numbers keep rising after retirement age?
Each age group is a different set of families in the same year. Older groups include people who have had longer to pay off homes and save. The data does not show that any one family’s wealth keeps rising.
Sources
- Federal Reserve Board, Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2022 to 2025, Table 2 (October 2026): medians, means, percentile groups and standard errors.
- Federal Reserve Board, Survey of Consumer Finances: survey overview and data.
Educational information only. Survey figures describe U.S. families and are not a personal goal or financial advice.