Retirement Savings Percentile Calculator
See where your 401(k)s and IRAs rank among US families your age, on the Federal Reserve’s 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances, released in October 2026.
Key facts
- 54.9% of US families had a retirement account in 2025. Among them the median balance was $106,000, up 11% from 2022 after inflation; the mean was $451,100.
Empty: all ages
401(k)s, IRAs and similar; a couple’s combined. Stays on this device.
Compare
ExampleYour rank, ages 35–44
76thpercentile
More saved than about 76% of families headed by someone aged 35–44, counting the 40% with none.
- $1M or more2%
- $500K–$1M4%
- $250K–$500K7%
- $100K–$250KYou12%
- $50K–$100K9%
- $10K–$50K15%
- $1–$10K11%
- None40%
- Among families with accounts
- 60th percentile
- Median with an account, ages 35–44
- $61,200
- With none, ages 35–44
- 40%
Compares your number with a survey of US families; not financial advice. SourcesTerms
What counts as retirement savingsAs the Federal Reserve measures it
All accounts: traditional and Roth IRAs, Keoghs, and account-type workplace plans such as 401(k)s, 403(b)s and the federal Thrift Savings Plan, including plans left with past employers and accounts you are drawing from. A couple’s accounts count together.
401(k)s only: the workplace plans on their own, without IRAs. The survey doesn’t separate 401(k)s from 403(b)s and thrift plans, so they are counted together.
Not counted: Social Security and traditional pensions that pay a set monthly income, health savings and 529 accounts, and ordinary savings or brokerage accounts.
How this works: Method, 6 sources, Checked against 6 worked examples,
How this works
Method
Your balance is placed among US families whose reference person is your age, on the 1st to 99th percentiles of the Federal Reserve’s 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances, counting families with no retirement account at $0, and again among only the families that have one. We work the percentiles out from the Fed’s public data file, weighting each family and pooling the survey’s five imputations as the Fed does; the share with an account and the median and mean among them match the Fed’s public-data tables to the dollar. The 401(k)-only view is our split of the same data.
Sources
- Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2022 to 2025: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances (Federal Reserve Bulletin, 2026)
- Survey of Consumer Finances 2025, summary extract public data (Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 2026)
- SCF historic tables based on public data, in 2025 dollars (Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 2026)
- SCF historic tables based on internal data, in 2025 dollars (Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 2026)
- Survey of Consumer Finances 2025 codebook (Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 2026)
- Survey of Consumer Finances: frequently asked questions (Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System)
How it’s tested
6 worked examples for this page are checked by automated tests before every release: given the inputs, the tool must show the expected answer.
Limits
Compares your number with a survey of US families; not financial advice.
Changes
- First published, on the Fed’s 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances: your rank for your age among all families and among savers, 401(k)s on their own, and two by-age pages.
All 2 tables
By age, 2025
Retirement savings by age, 2025
Share of families with a retirement account, the median balance among them, and the percentiles of all families counting those with none, in 2025 dollars. Our weighted calculation from the Fed’s public data.
| Age | Have one | Median, if any | 75th, all | 90th, all |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 35 | 48.8% | $21,000 | $19,000 | $75,000 |
| 35–44 | 59.6% | $61,000 | $95,000 | $326,000 |
| 45–54 | 63.0% | $133,000 | $202,000 | $713,000 |
| 55–64 | 63.1% | $239,000 | $400,000 | $1,260,000 |
| 65–74 | 48.9% | $257,000 | $251,000 | $1,175,000 |
| 75 and over | 44.6% | $257,000 | $175,000 | $1,125,000 |
| All families | 54.9% | $106,000 | $132,000 | $630,000 |
Two ranks, and why
Your first rank compares you with every family your age, including the ones with no retirement account, counted at $0. Under 35, 51% of families have none, so even a small balance ranks above the middle. It answers “how many families my age have saved less than me in these accounts?”.
Your second rank compares you only with families that have an account, the way the Fed reports balances. It answers “how do I compare with other people who are saving?”. Both are true, and the gap between them is the share of your age group with nothing saved.
A rank isn’t a target. How much you need depends on when you plan to retire, what you will spend, and what Social Security or a pension will pay, none of which this survey can see.
How the percentiles are worked out
The Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances asked 4,360 families in its 2025 public file about every account they hold, and weights each so that together they stand for all 135.0 million US families. We read that file, sort each age group’s families by their retirement balances and add up their weights to find the 1st to the 99th percentile. The survey fills in missing answers five times over, and we pool all five versions as the Fed’s own programs do.
We checked the result against the Fed. The share with an account, and the median and mean among them, match the Fed’s own tables made from the same public file to the dollar. The Bulletin and the Fed’s historic tables use its internal data, which the public file alters slightly for privacy, so they differ a little, as the table shows. Where a page quotes a median, it uses the Fed’s published one.
| Age | Fed published | Public file | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 35 | $21,000 | $21,000 | 0.0% |
| 35–44 | $61,200 | $61,000 | -0.3% |
| 45–54 | $133,000 | $133,000 | 0.0% |
| 55–64 | $239,000 | $239,000 | 0.0% |
| 65–74 | $257,000 | $257,000 | 0.0% |
| 75 and over | $257,000 | $257,000 | 0.0% |
| All families | $106,000 | $106,000 | 0.0% |
What to keep in mind
- It is a survey of US families, with the sampling error any survey has. The top percentiles within one age group rest on few families.
- Balances are what families reported at their interview in 2025; markets have moved since, so today’s balances differ.
- Families with a traditional pension or large savings outside retirement accounts can rank low here and still be well prepared. The net worth calculator gives the wider view.
- Being above or below a percentile isn’t a judgement or a plan. For decisions about your money, talk to a qualified adviser.
Sources
- Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2022 to 2025: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances
- Survey of Consumer Finances 2025, summary extract public data
- SCF historic tables based on public data, in 2025 dollars
- SCF historic tables based on internal data, in 2025 dollars
- Survey of Consumer Finances 2025 codebook
- Survey of Consumer Finances: frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much retirement savings is normal for my age?
Among families with a retirement account in 2025, the median balance was under 35: $21,000; 35–44: $61,200; 45–54: $133,000; 55–64: $239,000; 65–74: $257,000; 75 and over: $257,000. But many families have no account at all, so a balance above $0 already puts you ahead of a large share of your age group. This tool describes where you stand; it isn’t financial advice or a retirement plan.
Why is the median $0 for some ages?
Because more than half of those families have no retirement account: 51% of families under 35, 51% at 65–74 and 55% at 75 and over (our calculation from the public data). The middle family in those groups has $0. That is why the Fed reports the median among families that have an account, and why the tool shows both ranks.
Which accounts count?
IRAs (traditional and Roth), Keoghs, and account-type workplace plans: 401(k)s, 403(b)s, the federal Thrift Savings Plan and similar, including ones left with past employers and ones you are already drawing from. Social Security, traditional pensions that pay a monthly income, health savings and 529 accounts, and ordinary savings or brokerage accounts are not counted.
Is this per person or per household?
Per family, as the Federal Reserve counts it: a single person or a couple, married or living together, and anyone who shares their finances. A couple should add both partners’ accounts together. Families are grouped by the age of one “reference person”: in a mixed-sex couple the survey uses the man’s age, in a same-sex couple the older partner’s.
How current is this data?
It is the Federal Reserve’s 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances, released in October 2026. Balances are measured at the time of each interview, mostly between April and December 2025, and every figure here is in 2025 dollars. The survey runs every three years.