Sometimes the key to building wealth is simply staying put, new data from the Federal Reserve suggests. The 18 million American households headed by someone age 75 or older have the highest median net worth of any age group, according to the Federal Reserve’s triennial Survey of Consumer Finances. Americans in that demographic had a median net worth of $504,000 in 2025, according to the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances. The report assesses the financial health of American families, measuring wealth, income and liabilities such as credit card debt and student loans. All figures in the report are adjusted for inflation. Families headed by someone age 75 or older saw both the largest increases in median net worth of any age group and the largest income gains, with their median annual income rising 24% from 2022 to $67,000. Older Americans likely benefited from the growth in their retirement assets, the Federal Reserve said. Between 2022 and 2025, households headed by people between 65 and 74 years old saw their wealth increase by 37%. The findings underscore how strong stock market gains over the past three years have boosted the wealth of many Americans. The S&P 500 gained about 78% between the end of 2022 and 2025, the period measured by the Federal Reserve report. The number of 401(k) plan accounts managed by Fidelity Investments with at least $1 million rose to a record 769,000 in the second quarter, driven by a bullish stock market and record average employee contribution rates. Families soared 31% to $3.6 billion between 2022 and 2025, according to the Federal Reserve survey. Households headed by someone over the age of 75 make up about 13.4% of the country’s families, making it the smallest age group in the United States. Families headed by people under age 35 are the largest, accounting for about one in five households, according to the Federal Reserve. While older, wealthier Americans enjoyed significant increases in wealth, the report also showed that financial prospects have weakened for millions of people in recent years. In 2025, about 20% of American households were behind on their debt, including mortgage loans, credit cards, payday loans and other types of credit, an increase of 7 percentage points from 2022, the data shows. The increase may reflect the impact of years of higher-than-normal inflation since the pandemic, although the survey does not capture this year’s reacceleration of price increases caused by rising energy costs. financial obligations than at any time since the 2010 survey,” the Federal Reserve said of the 2025 data. About one in 12 families spends about 40% or more of their income on paying debt, the highest share in at least 12 years, the report showed. In 2025, nearly 10% of Americans age 65 and older were living below the poverty line, up from about 9% a decade ago, according to data from The Census Bureau. The typical households headed by someone under 35 saw their median net worth fall 23% between 2022 and 2025, to $33,000, the Federal Reserve found. That decline in wealth for young families was mainly due to a drop in business capital gains over the previous three years. Edited by Alain Sherter The Associated Press contributed to this report.
