Retirement Savings Benchmark
See your retirement savings in context. Two questions, one comparison.
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Read the framing — it's the whole point
- Retirement balances, conditional on holding, by age: under 35 $18,900 · 35–44 $45,000 · 45–54 $115,000 · 55–64 $185,000 · 65–74 $200,000 · 75+ $130,000 (Fed SCF 2022)
- Among holders, the mean ($334,000) is 3.8× the median ($86,900) — a smaller slice of large accounts pulls the average up.
Percentile breakpoints used by the tool were computed from the Fed's public SCF 2022 microdata (survey weights applied, all five imputation implicates pooled) and validated against the published bulletin medians: computed conditional retirement median $87,000 vs published $86,900; computed holder share 54.3% vs published 54.3%.
What the 401(k) headlines quote
These recordkeeper series cover each firm's own plan participants only — large samples, but not nationally representative. They are shown here because "average 401(k) balance" searches land on them — separated, labeled, and never mixed into the national figures above.
Vanguard — How America Saves 2026
- Average 401(k) balance: $167,970 | Median: $44,115
- By age (average / median): under 25 $9,845 / $2,923 · 25–34 $40,036 / $15,772 · 35–44 $104,011 / $39,470 · 45–54 $200,538 / $72,290 · 55–64 $281,606 / $112,020 · 65+ $313,677 / $103,360
Coverage: ~4.6–5M participants in Vanguard-administered plans, plan-year 2025 (25th edition, released June 2026). Skewed toward large employers.
Fidelity — Q2 2026 retirement analysis
- Average 401(k) balance: $155,800 (all-time high) — no median published for Q2 2026; we don't substitute one
- Total retirement savings rate: 14.4% (record, second straight quarter)
Coverage: 27,300 corporate DC plans, 25.8M 401(k) participants (published Sept 3, 2026). Reports averages, not medians. Broader employer-size mix than Vanguard — neither dataset is "more correct"; they are different cross-sections.
The Fed's SCF publishes no 401(k)-only national series — its retirement figure covers IRAs + Keogh + 401(k) + 403(b) + thrift savings combined. Label that figure "retirement accounts," never "401(k) balance," unless citing one of the series above.
Why the mean and the median disagree
The mean is pulled up by a small slice of very large accounts; the median is the saver in the middle. For retirement accounts held by families, the mean ($334,000) sits 3.8× above the median ($86,900).
A large gap between the mean and median is a sign that the distribution is heavily skewed toward larger balances. The headlines quote the average. For understanding the middle of the distribution, the median is usually more informative than the average.
Methodology, sources & limitations
Every figure on this page carries four labels: source · vintage · definition · coverage.
Data sources
- Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances 2022 (SCF 2022) — nationally representative benchmark for retirement medians (2022 dollars). Public microdata. The 2025 SCF was fielded in 2025 with summary results expected late 2026 — not yet available.
- Vanguard How America Saves 2026 (plan-year 2025); Fidelity Q2 2026 — plan-participant benchmarks, separated from national figures.
How the tool computes percentile ranges
- The tool maps your balance into the band between adjacent published breakpoints — 10th/25th/50th/75th/90th by age band, conditional on holding. No interpolation: the source data is survey breakpoints, not a continuous distribution, so "63rd percentile" would be false precision.
- Retirement uses SCF RETQLIQ (IRAs/Keoghs + account-type retirement plans + other retirement accounts) conditional on holding; the 45.7% of families with no account take the no-account branch instead of the percentile scale.
- Age bands are by the SCF reference person's age — not "the median 30-year-old."
Limitations
Survey sampling error; SCF is triennial (2022 latest published); retirement medians describe holders only; not financial advice.
Related
- Where You Stand — benchmark one of two: your income against households like yours.
- Roth vs. Traditional 401(k) & IRA — which account type your savings should live in.
- How much do you need to retire? — the FIRE number your savings are building toward.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the retirement number so high/low?
The $86,900 median describes only the 54.3% of families that hold retirement accounts (Fed SCF 2022) — the other 45.7% do not hold retirement accounts in this category. It is not the median across all households. Compare yourself to the right group: savers your age.
Where does this data come from?
Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances 2022 (retirement account balances by age), Vanguard How America Saves 2026 and Fidelity Q2 2026 (plan-participant 401(k) benchmarks, shown separately). Every figure on the page carries its source and vintage.
Is my data saved?
Not by us. Every calculation runs entirely in your browser and nothing you enter is sent to Figmetric. We count page visits in aggregate; we never see your inputs or results.
Published: September 28, 2026