National context, one age at a time.
Average net worth at 40 in the United States.
For US families whose reference person is exactly 40, estimated average net worth is $418,640 and the median is $161,256. These are family assets minus debts, not the wealth of each individual 40-year-old.
Sample: 68 families. Exact-age estimate. Five implicates are repeated imputations, not five times as many families. Estimates have survey uncertainty; no confidence intervals are provided.
| Measure | Amount |
|---|---|
| Average (weighted mean) | $418,640 |
| 25th percentile | $57,226 |
| Median (50th percentile) | $161,256 |
| 75th percentile | $231,078 |
| 90th percentile | $405,320 |
The average and the middle tell different stories.
The average is 2.6 times the median near age 40. Large wealth observations and their survey weights can pull the average well above the middle family, so “average” and “typical” are not interchangeable.
How does your metro compare?
These local links use modeled wealth for single-adult economic units and age bands. Their population and age definition differ from this national estimate, so the amounts are not a like-for-like national-versus-local ranking.
- Chicago: $21,306 single-adult median at ages 35–44
- Minneapolis–St. Paul: $26,092 single-adult median at ages 35–44
- Columbus: $16,828 single-adult median at ages 35–44
- Dallas–Fort Worth: $21,452 single-adult median at ages 35–44
- Atlanta: $25,540 single-adult median at ages 35–44
- Seattle: $39,272 single-adult median at ages 35–44
- San Francisco: $53,128 single-adult median at ages 35–44
- New York: $26,328 single-adult median at ages 35–44
- Boston: $39,432 single-adult median at ages 35–44
- Austin: $26,498 single-adult median at ages 35–44
- Denver: $35,012 single-adult median at ages 35–44
Other questions worth asking.
All metro comparisons and national age benchmarks →
- Average net worth at 25: national context
- Average net worth at 30: national context
- Average net worth at 35: national context
- Average net worth at 40: national context
- Median income at 30: national context
- What income is top 10% or top 1% in Chicago?
- What income is top 10% or top 1% in Minneapolis–St. Paul?
- What income is top 10% or top 1% in Columbus?
- What income is top 10% or top 1% in Dallas–Fort Worth?
- What income is top 10% or top 1% in Atlanta?
- What income is top 10% or top 1% in Seattle?
- What income is top 10% or top 1% in San Francisco?
- What income is top 10% or top 1% in New York?
- What income is top 10% or top 1% in Boston?
- What income is top 10% or top 1% in Austin?
- What income is top 10% or top 1% in Denver?
- Seattle vs. Dallas–Fort Worth
- Chicago vs. Atlanta
- Seattle vs. Chicago
- Chicago vs. Minneapolis–St. Paul
- Atlanta vs. Dallas–Fort Worth
- Minneapolis–St. Paul vs. Columbus