Fidelity puts the median US 401(k) balance at $34,400. Empower puts average retirement savings at $547,840. Both figures are current, both are published by serious institutions, and they differ by sixteen times.
They are not in conflict. They answer different questions — and almost nobody states which question they answered. This page puts seven published figures side by side, names exactly what each one counts, and shows which is the right benchmark for the question you actually have.
Use a median, not an average. Know whether your source counts one account or all of them. And know that every household figure quoted below is conditional on owning a retirement account — only 54.4% of US families do, so none of these numbers describes the other 45.6%.
Seven numbers, and what each one counts
These are the figures you will meet in the first page of search results. The column that matters is the last one.
| Figure | Source | As of | What it actually measures |
|---|---|---|---|
| $34,400 | Fidelity | Q4 2025 | Median 401(k) balance among Fidelity participants. One account type, one recordkeeper. |
| $44,115 | Vanguard | Year-end 2025 | Median 401(k) balance across 4.6 million Vanguard participants. Same measure as above, different plan mix. |
| $87,000 | Federal Reserve (SCF) | 2022 | Median across all retirement account types — 401(k), IRA, and others together — for households that hold at least one. |
| $146,400 | Fidelity | Q4 2025 | Average 401(k) balance. Same population as the $34,400 median above, different statistic. |
| $167,970 | Vanguard | Year-end 2025 | Average participant balance, a record high. Vanguard administers more large-employer plans, which lifts both its figures. |
| $333,940 | Federal Reserve (SCF) | 2022 | Mean across all account types for households that hold one. |
| $547,840 | Empower | Mar 2026 | Average across users of a wealth-management dashboard, counting all linked accounts. Not a cross-section of the country. |
The spread from lowest to highest is 15.9×. Seven figures, seven defensible measurements, one question — and seven different answers.
Why they disagree: four reasons
Four choices explain nearly the whole gap. Once you can name which choices a figure made, you can place it.
1. Average or median
This is the largest single factor, and you can see it inside a single dataset. Fidelity's own Q4 2025 numbers give an average of $146,400 and a median of $34,400 — the same participants, the same quarter, a 4.3× difference. Vanguard's $167,970 average against its $44,115 median is a 3.8× difference on the same basis.
A small number of very large accounts pulls the mean up. Vanguard's own analysis says so plainly: average balances are more representative of participants who are older, longer-tenured or more affluent. The median is the participant in the exact middle — half have more, half have less.
2. Which accounts are counted
Fidelity and Vanguard report 401(k) balances held with them. That is a real measurement, and it is not the same as retirement savings.
A 44-year-old might hold a current 401(k), a rollover IRA from two jobs ago, a Roth IRA opened in their twenties, and a spouse's plan at another provider. A recordkeeper sees one of those. The Federal Reserve, which surveys households directly, counts all retirement account types together.
This is the main reason the Fed's $87,000 median sits well above both providers' medians while measuring a broader population — it is adding up accounts the providers cannot see.
3. Who is in the sample
The Empower figure is the clearest case. Its data comes from people who have linked their accounts to a wealth-management dashboard. That group skews older, higher-income and more engaged with their finances than the country does. The number is accurate about them and says little about anyone else.
The same logic applies more gently to the providers. Vanguard administers a higher concentration of large-employer plans skewed toward higher-income participants; Fidelity's broader mix of plan sizes pulls both of its figures down. Neither is more accurate — they are snapshots of different cross-sections of the same workforce.
4. Whether zero counts — and it usually does not
This is the reason most often missed, and it moves the number more than any of the others.
The Federal Reserve's balance medians are conditional on owning an account. Just over 54% of US families hold a retirement account of any kind, so the $87,000 median describes the middle of that 54% — not the middle of the country. Provider data cannot include non-savers by construction: a person with no account has no balance to report.
Even in the age band where retirement accounts are most widespread, 45 to 54, only 62.2% of households hold one. So every figure on this page answers “what does a typical saver have?” and none of them answers “what does a typical American household have?”. The honest answer to the second question, for nearly half of households, is nothing.
Retirement savings by age
Federal Reserve figures, all retirement account types, median balance among households that hold an account:
| Age of household head | Median balance | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Under 35 | $18,880 | Contributions have barely begun compounding; time is the whole asset at this stage. |
| 35–44 | $45,000 | Competing costs peak — housing, childcare, student loans. |
| 45–54 | $115,000 | The last decade in which compounding can still do most of the work. |
| 55–64 | $185,000 | Catch-up contributions are available from 50. |
| 65–74 | $200,000 | The peak. At a 4% withdrawal rate this generates about $670 a month. |
| 75 and over | $130,000 | Falling, because drawdown has been underway for a decade. |
| All households | $87,000 | The figure most often quoted without its age context. |
Read that last row carefully. The $87,000 “all households” median is not a benchmark for anyone in particular — it is a blend of a 30-year-old with $18,880 and a 70-year-old with $200,000. Comparing yourself to it means comparing yourself to a population that is mostly not your age.
The growth from under-35 to 65–74 is 10.6× across four decades. That is the real shape of retirement accumulation, and it is nothing like the 16× spread between sources on the same page — which is a measurement artefact, not a life-cycle fact.
What these balances actually pay
A balance is not income. The bridge between them is a withdrawal rate, and the conventional figure is 4% of the starting balance in the first year, adjusted for inflation thereafter. Applied to the medians above, the picture is sobering:
| Age | Median balance | At 4% a year | Per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 35 | $18,880 | $755 | $63 |
| 35–44 | $45,000 | $1,800 | $150 |
| 45–54 | $115,000 | $4,600 | $383 |
| 55–64 | $185,000 | $7,400 | $617 |
| 65–74 | $200,000 | $8,000 | $667 |
The typical household approaching retirement has built savings that produce about $617 a month. That is the number the balance figures are really telling you, and it is the reason they land so differently once converted.
Two caveats on the 4% figure itself. It came from research published in 1994 on historical US returns, assuming a roughly balanced stock and bond portfolio and a 30-year horizon. Recent work using current equity valuations and bond yields lands lower — Morningstar's 2026 study puts it at 3.7% for a balanced portfolio, and several planners argue for 3.3–3.5% for anyone retiring early or facing a horizon longer than 30 years. At 3.5% rather than 4%, the 55–64 median produces $540 a month instead of $617.
Where Social Security fits
Every figure on this page excludes Social Security, and for most households it is the larger source of retirement income. The average retirement benefit in 2026 is about $1,907 a month, or $22,884 a year, after the 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment.
Adding it changes the arithmetic substantially:
| Balance | From savings at 4% | Social Security | Total income |
|---|---|---|---|
| $200,000 | $8,000 | $22,884 | $30,884 |
| $400,000 | $16,000 | $22,884 | $38,884 |
| $800,000 | $32,000 | $22,884 | $54,884 |
Social Security replaces roughly 40% of pre-retirement income for a median earner, and proportionally less as income rises — the benefit formula is deliberately progressive, replacing 90% of the first slice of career-average earnings, 32% of the next and 15% above that. A high earner should expect a materially smaller replacement rate than 40%, and should plan for the portfolio to carry more.
Working out your own number
The salary-multiple guidance above is a shortcut. The direct calculation takes four steps and produces a figure specific to you rather than to a national average:
- Estimate your retirement spending. A common starting point is 75–80% of current income, on the reasoning that commuting, saving and payroll tax stop. Your own budget beats the rule of thumb if you have one.
- Subtract guaranteed income. Social Security, any pension, any annuity. Use your own benefit estimate from the SSA rather than the national average — individual benefits range from a few hundred dollars to over $4,800 a month.
- The remainder is the portfolio's job. That annual gap is what your savings must produce.
- Divide by your withdrawal rate. Gap ÷ 0.04 for the conventional rule, or ÷ 0.035 for a more conservative one.
Worked through on three incomes, assuming 75% replacement and the average Social Security benefit:
| Income | Needs (75%) | Social Security | Portfolio gap | Balance at 4% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $37,500 | $20,000 | $17,500 | $438,000 |
| $75,000 | $56,250 | $22,884 | $33,366 | $834,000 |
| $100,000 | $75,000 | $22,884 | $52,116 | $1,303,000 |
Notice how the required balance rises faster than income. Doubling income from $50,000 to $100,000 nearly triples the portfolio target, because Social Security stops scaling with earnings while spending does not. This is the single most useful thing the national figures cannot tell you, and it is why a median is a poor benchmark for anyone earning well above or below it.
The retirement calculator runs these four steps with your own numbers and shows the shortfall or surplus, and the annuity calculator converts a balance into guaranteed income if you would rather not manage withdrawals yourself.
What to do with this, by decade
The data supports a few conclusions that hold regardless of where you sit in the distribution:
| If you are | The lever that matters most |
|---|---|
| In your 20s | Capture the full employer match, and nothing else is close. A 50% match on the first 6% of salary is a 50% return before the market does anything. Leaving it on the table is the most expensive common mistake in retirement saving. |
| In your 30s | Raise the contribution rate with each pay rise rather than after it. Going from 6% to 10% during the decade when balances are small costs least and compounds longest. |
| In your 40s | Consolidate old accounts. The median household has held several jobs, and forgotten 401(k)s at former employers are common. This also fixes the measurement problem discussed above — you cannot benchmark what you cannot see. |
| In your 50s | Catch-up contributions open at 50 and the enhanced window at 60–63 allows $35,750 into a 401(k) alone. This is the highest-capacity decade most people ever have. |
| In your 60s | The claiming decision usually outweighs the contribution decision. Delaying Social Security from 62 to 70 raises the monthly benefit by roughly 77%, which is a guaranteed inflation-adjusted return no portfolio can promise. |
Which number applies to you
A benchmark is not a target
The most common misuse of this data is treating a median as a goal. It is not. It describes where savers are, and where savers are is mostly behind the standard guidance.
The widely used salary-multiple rule suggests roughly 1× salary saved by 30, 3× by 40, 6× by 50 and 8× by 60. On a $60,000 household income:
| Age | Target multiple | Target amount | Median for the band | Shortfall |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | 1× salary | $60,000 | $18,880 (under 35) | 3.2× |
| 40 | 3× salary | $180,000 | $45,000 (35–44) | 4.0× |
| 50 | 6× salary | $360,000 | $115,000 (45–54) | 3.1× |
| 60 | 8× salary | $480,000 | $185,000 (55–64) | 2.6× |
A target that the typical saver misses by a factor of three at every stage is worth questioning rather than simply failing. The multiples assume no pension, no meaningful Social Security, a 30-year retirement and a particular withdrawal rate. Change any of those and the target moves substantially.
That does not make the guidance useless. It makes it a starting assumption to be replaced with your own numbers as soon as you have them, which is what the retirement calculator exists to do. The Coast FIRE calculator answers the narrower question of whether what you already have will grow into enough without further contributions.
What you can actually put in
The ceiling on catching up is set by contribution limits, and they are more generous after 50 than most people realise:
| Account | Under 50 | 50 and over | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 401(k), 403(b), 457 | $24,500 | $32,500 | Employee deferral only; the employer match sits on top |
| 401(k), ages 60–63 | — | $35,750 | Enhanced catch-up window, then it reverts |
| Traditional or Roth IRA | $7,500 | $8,600 | Roth eligibility phases out at higher incomes |
A 55-year-old maximising a 401(k) and an IRA can move $41,100 a year into tax-advantaged accounts before any employer match. Ten years of that, at a 6% real return, compounds to roughly $542,000. The gap between the median and the guidance is wide, but it is not unbridgeable from 50.
Two effects are worth seeing rather than reading about. First, the employer match: a 50% match on the first 6% of salary is an immediate 50% return on that portion, before any market return — the 401(k) calculator includes it, which most quick estimates do not. Second, timing: the compound interest calculator shows why a decade of contributions at 30 outweighs the same total contributed at 50.
Where the account sits matters too. A Roth IRA trades a deduction now for tax-free withdrawals later, which usually favours people who expect a higher bracket in retirement; an HSA is the only account with no tax at contribution, growth or qualified withdrawal.
What this data cannot tell you
Five things it does not contain, and no amount of reading it more carefully will supply them:
- The 45.6% with no account. Every figure here is conditional on holding one. Nearly half of US families do not, and they are absent from all seven numbers.
- Pensions. A household with a defined-benefit pension may show a small account balance and still have secure retirement income. None of these figures values that.
- Home equity. Excluded here, and for many households it is the largest asset. The net worth calculator counts it.
- Social Security. It replaces roughly 40% of pre-retirement income for a median earner, which changes what any balance needs to cover.
- What you spend. Two households with identical balances can be in completely different positions. Spending decides the answer; savings only decide the input.
Frequently asked questions
What is the median retirement savings by age in the US?
By Federal Reserve data, for households that hold a retirement account: $18,880 under 35, $45,000 at 35–44, $115,000 at 45–54, $185,000 at 55–64, $200,000 at 65–74 and $130,000 at 75 and over. The all-households figure is $87,000, but that blends every age together and is not a benchmark for anyone in particular.
Why does every website give a different number?
Four choices: average or median, which account types are counted, who is in the sample, and whether non-savers are included. Each is defensible on its own. Together they produce a range from $34,400 to $547,840 for what is nominally the same statistic — a spread of nearly sixteen times.
Do these figures include people with no retirement savings?
No, and this is the most commonly missed point on the topic. The Federal Reserve's balance medians are conditional on owning an account, and just over 54% of US families do. Provider figures cannot include non-savers at all. So every number here describes typical savers, not typical households — and for nearly half of US families the honest answer is nothing saved.
Should I use the average or the median?
The median, in almost every case. Fidelity's own data shows the scale of the difference: an average of $146,400 against a median of $34,400 for the same participants in the same quarter. The mean is pulled upward by a small number of very large accounts, so comparing yourself to it means comparing yourself to savers well above the middle.
Why is the Fed's median higher than Vanguard's?
Because it counts more accounts. Vanguard reports the balance in a Vanguard 401(k); the Federal Reserve surveys households and adds up every retirement account they hold — current 401(k), old rollovers, IRAs, a spouse's plan. A household with three accounts appears once in the Fed data with the full total, and once in each provider's data with a fraction of it.
How much should I have saved by 40?
The common guidance is about three times your salary — $180,000 on a $60,000 income. The actual median for the 35–44 band is $45,000, so most savers are well short of it. That gap says more about how demanding the guidance is than about individual failure, and what matters is your own spending and timeline rather than either figure.
How much can I contribute in 2026?
$24,500 to a 401(k), rising to $32,500 from age 50 and $35,750 for ages 60–63 under the enhanced catch-up. IRAs allow $7,500, or $8,600 with catch-up. Employer matching sits on top of the 401(k) figure rather than counting against it, which is why match-inclusive projections come out higher than most people expect.
Is it too late to catch up at 50?
The arithmetic is more forgiving than the gap suggests. A 55-year-old maximising a 401(k) and an IRA moves $41,100 a year into tax-advantaged accounts before any employer match; ten years of that at a 6% real return compounds to roughly $542,000. Whether that is enough depends on your spending, not on the national figure.
Why is the Federal Reserve data from 2022?
The Survey of Consumer Finances runs every three years, and 2022 is the most recent published wave; the next is expected in late 2026. It is the most complete source available and also the most dated. Provider reports are quarterly or annual but cover only their own participants, so no single source is both current and comprehensive.
Do 401(k) figures include IRAs and old accounts?
No. Fidelity and Vanguard report balances held with them, so a rollover IRA at a third firm, a spouse's plan elsewhere and a Roth opened years ago are all invisible to those figures. This also means provider balances should never be added together across firms — the same person may appear in more than one.
What monthly income does the median balance actually produce?
At a 4% withdrawal rate, the 55–64 median of $185,000 produces about $617 a month, and the 65–74 median of $200,000 about $667. At a more conservative 3.5% those become $540 and $583. Adding the average Social Security benefit of $1,907 a month brings the 55–64 total to roughly $2,524 — which is the figure worth comparing to your actual spending.
Is the 4% rule still reliable?
It is a reasonable starting point with known limits. It came from 1994 research on historical US returns for a balanced portfolio over 30 years. Morningstar's 2026 work, using current valuations and bond yields, lands at 3.7%, and many planners suggest 3.3–3.5% for early retirees or horizons beyond 30 years. Guaranteed income from Social Security or a pension lowers the effective rate you need from the portfolio, which cuts the other way.
How do I work out my own target rather than using a national figure?
Four steps. Estimate retirement spending, commonly 75–80% of current income. Subtract guaranteed income — your own Social Security estimate, not the national average, plus any pension. The remainder is what the portfolio must produce. Divide it by your withdrawal rate. On a $75,000 income that works out at roughly $834,000; on $100,000 it is about $1.3 million, because Social Security stops scaling with earnings while spending does not.
Does Social Security count toward these figures?
No. Every balance on this page is account savings only. Social Security averages $1,907 a month in 2026 and replaces roughly 40% of pre-retirement income for a median earner, proportionally less as income rises. For many households it is the larger source of retirement income, which is why a balance figure on its own tells you very little about whether someone is prepared.
Sources
- Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Survey of Consumer Finances, 2022 wave. Median retirement account balances by age of household head, all account types, conditional on ownership: $18,880 under 35, $45,000 at 35–44, $115,000 at 45–54, $185,000 at 55–64, $200,000 at 65–74, $130,000 at 75+, $87,000 across all households. Mean across all households $333,940. Account ownership 54.4% of families, and 62.2% in the 45–54 band.
- Vanguard. How America Saves 2026, covering 4.6 million participant accounts to 31 December 2025. Average participant balance $167,970, median $44,115.
- Fidelity Investments. Q4 2025 retirement analysis. Average 401(k) balance $146,400, median $34,400.
- Empower. Personal Dashboard aggregate data, March 2026. Average $547,840 across linked accounts of dashboard users.
- Internal Revenue Service. 2026 contribution limits: $24,500 for employer plans, $32,500 with catch-up from 50, $35,750 for ages 60–63, $7,500 for IRAs and $8,600 with catch-up.
- Social Security Administration. Average retirement benefit of approximately $1,907 a month in 2026 after a 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment. Benefit formula replacing 90% of the first slice of career-average indexed earnings, 32% of the next and 15% above the upper bend point. Delayed retirement credits raising the benefit by roughly 77% between claiming at 62 and at 70.
- Bengen, W. P. “Determining Withdrawal Rates Using Historical Data”, Journal of Financial Planning, 1994. The origin of the 4% rule, based on historical US returns for a balanced portfolio over a 30-year horizon.
- Morningstar. 2026 safe withdrawal rate study, which lands at 3.7% for a balanced portfolio using current equity valuations and bond yields rather than the historical series Bengen used.
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Consumer Expenditure Survey, average annual household expenditure of $78,535 in 2024, used as context for the 75–80% replacement assumption.
Every figure on this page is quoted from the source named beside it, with the measurement basis stated rather than assumed. Where two sources conflict, both are shown with the reason for the difference; none has been averaged into a single number, because averaging figures that measure different populations produces something that measures nothing.
Related calculators
See the full list of Financial calculators, or try:
- Retirement Calculator — projected savings against the income you will actually want
- 401(k) Calculator — balance at retirement including the employer match
- Compound Interest Calculator — why a decade at 30 beats the same total at 50
- Coast FIRE Calculator — whether what you have will grow into enough on its own
- Net Worth Calculator — the number these balances leave out
- Roth IRA Calculator — tax-free growth and the limits that apply to your income