Net Worth Percentile
How does your household compare — within your age bracket, and nationally? US data, Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances 2022.
Where you stand
In your age bracket (—)
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Among all US households
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Median for your bracket
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Median nationally
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Net worth distribution is brutal
Net worth is far more unequal than income. The US median household has about $192k in net worth (2022). The top 10% threshold is $1.84M. The top 1% is $11.6M. The gap between median and 90th percentile is roughly 10× — bigger than the income gap.
Why age matters so much
Comparing a 25-year-old to a 60-year-old is unfair — the 60-year-old has had 35 more years to compound. The age-bracketed percentile is the more meaningful comparison: among households where the head is 35–44, where do you stand?
What counts as net worth
- Assets: home value, investment accounts (401k, IRA, brokerage), savings, vehicles (Kelley Blue Book), business equity, valuable possessions.
- Liabilities: mortgage balance, student loans, auto loans, credit-card balances, medical debt.
- Not included: human capital (future earnings), Social Security benefits earned, pension entitlements (for technical reasons; SCF counts only "wealth" assets).
Why this matters less than you think
Two households with identical net worth can have wildly different financial security — one might be all home equity (illiquid), the other all index funds (liquid). Net worth alone doesn't capture cash flow, savings rate, or runway. It's a snapshot of a slow-moving stock; the more useful metric for most people is their savings rate trend.