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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesCompare your household’s net worth with the median for families in a similar income group—not with the national average. The Federal Reserve’s 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) reports median net worth by broad usual-income bands. Those figures offer a useful point of reference, not a personalized score, a savings target, or a measure of financial success.
Calculate net worth for the same household unit
Net worth is assets minus liabilities. The Federal Reserve defines it as “the difference between families’ assets and liabilities.” To compare fairly, add up the assets and debts of the same family or household whose income you are using. If you share finances with a spouse or partner, compare combined household figures rather than one person’s net worth with family-level data.
Assets may include bank and retirement accounts, investments, real estate, and business interests; liabilities include mortgages, student loans, credit-card balances, and other debts. The SCF covers family finances, so it is not a direct comparison for an individual unless that individual’s finances are the household’s finances.
Use the median for your income group
The table shows the 2022 SCF median net worth for families in each usual-income percentile group. Amounts are in 2022 dollars and are group medians, not minimums, maximums, or exact income cutoffs. “Usual income” refers to the family’s usual income; SCF income data are for the calendar year before the survey.
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| Usual-income percentile group | Median net worth in 2022 |
|---|---|
| Below the 20th percentile | $14,000 |
| 20th–39.9th percentile | $71,000 |
| 40th–59.9th percentile | $159,300 |
| 60th–79.9th percentile | $307,200 |
| 80th–89.9th percentile | $747,000 |
| 90th–100th percentile | $2,556,200 |
Federal Reserve Board, “Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2019 to 2022” (2023). The survey reports estimates, and each band groups many families together. A household near the middle of an income band may still differ substantially from its median in age, family size, housing, debt, or other circumstances.
Why the median is more useful than the average
For all families in the 2022 SCF, median net worth was $192,900, while mean net worth was $1,063,700. Both amounts are in 2022 dollars. The mean is more than five times the median because wealth is highly unevenly distributed: very wealthy families pull the average upward. For a “typical family” comparison, the median is usually the clearer benchmark.
These national figures are context, not a substitute for comparing with the income group that best fits your household. The Federal Reserve’s 2022 SCF bulletin includes the income-group estimates and explains the survey’s findings.
Adjust the comparison for age and household circumstances
Age changes the context
Net worth often reflects years of saving, paying down debt, and building home equity. In the 2022 SCF, median net worth by age of the family’s reference person was:
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| Age of reference person | Median net worth in 2022 |
|---|---|
| Younger than 35 | $39,000 |
| 35–44 | $135,600 |
| 45–54 | $247,200 |
| 55–64 | $364,500 |
| 65–74 | $409,900 |
| 75 or older | $335,600 |
These are age-group medians across income levels, not age-and-income intersections. They help explain why a young household should not treat a gap from the all-family median as a performance shortfall.
Housing and family composition matter
Homeowners and renters can have very different net worth because home equity is included among assets and a mortgage is included among liabilities. Household size and shared assets or debts also change the comparison. The SCF measures family finances, so use its family-level framing rather than treating its estimates as individual net-worth benchmarks.
What the comparison can—and cannot—tell you
A position above or below a group median describes where your household stands relative to a broad survey group. It does not explain why the difference exists or show whether your finances are on track for your goals. Income is only one factor in wealth: saving habits, age, asset prices, housing, debt, family circumstances, and timing all contribute.
The Federal Reserve reported that all-family median net worth rose 37% from 2019 to 2022 in inflation-adjusted dollars. Asset-price movements were among the forces behind wealth changes, and housing values particularly affect families in the middle of the net-worth distribution. That increase should not be read as an income-driven result or as a rate every household experienced.
Income also has a timing limitation: the SCF’s 2022 survey uses income from the prior calendar year. In that survey, 28% of families said their income was unusual. If your earnings recently changed, or the prior year was atypical, one income-group label may not represent your longer-term circumstances.
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The SCF is conducted every three years. The latest SCF bulletin in the cited Federal Reserve materials covers the 2022 survey, so its figures are not 2026-dollar estimates. The Fed’s SCF visualization documentation notes that some displayed chart cells contain fewer than 11 observations and may not be robust; for detailed cuts, consult the bulletin tables and standard errors rather than treating every chart result as precise.
The Fed also publishes quarterly Distributional Financial Accounts (DFA) estimates by income, age, and other characteristics. These provide more frequent broad context, but they are built by reconciling Financial Accounts aggregates with SCF information, interpolating between survey years, and forecasting beyond the latest survey. A DFA estimate is not a newly collected household-level percentile table; any quoted DFA figure should identify its specific quarter and estimated status.
A practical way to use the benchmark
- Calculate household net worth: total the household’s assets and subtract its liabilities.
- Choose the closest usual-income band: use the SCF income-group median as a broad comparison, keeping in mind that the survey’s income measure is from the prior calendar year.
- Consider age and housing: compare life stages thoughtfully and account for whether your household owns a home or rents.
- Use the result as context: decide what financial question you actually want to answer—such as whether to reduce high-interest debt, build savings, or plan for retirement—rather than treating the median as a target.
A calculator can help organize the arithmetic, but the underlying comparison is simply household assets minus liabilities against a broad survey median. A third-party calculator may interpolate between age brackets or use other assumptions; it is not an official Federal Reserve product. Check its methods and data vintage before relying on a precise-looking result.
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