Fewer Than 6 in 10 U.S. Families Have a Retirement Account, and the Typical Balance Is $106,000

Close to half of American families have no money saved in an IRA or 401(k), and those that do save can look very different depending on whether you focus on the average or the middle value. That contrast highlights how the retirement system works for different households.

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Just under half of U.S. families do not have any retirement account. That is the key finding from the Federal Reserve’s 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances, which said 54.9% of families had one, a slight increase from 54.3% in 2022. In the survey, a retirement account includes an IRA or a workplace plan such as a 401(k) or 403(b). Traditional pensions are counted separately.

What a Typical Account Holder Has Saved

Among families that do have an account, the median balance increased from $95,200 to $106,000, a gain of 11%. Both amounts are stated in 2025 dollars, so the change reflects inflation. The median is the midpoint: half of account holders have more, and half have less.

That figure applies only to families that already have an account, so households with no savings are not included. Balances can rise or fall because of investment performance as well as ongoing contributions.

Why the Average Is Much Higher

The mean, or simple average, is far larger. It climbed from $365,700 to $451,100, a 23% rise. An average combines all balances and divides by the number of families with an account, so a small number of very large accounts can push it up sharply. It is therefore a better reflection of how concentrated retirement wealth is than of what most families hold.

Other Federal Reserve data point in the same direction. In the Fed’s Distributional Financial Accounts for the second quarter of 2026, households in the 80th through 99th income percentiles held 62% of all defined contribution retirement assets, while the bottom 20% by income held just 0.5%. Those figures refer to total dollars rather than typical balances and show how heavily the money is concentrated among higher earners.

Who Is Least Likely to Have Coverage

Age is a major factor in whether a family has an account. Looking at participation in any retirement plan, including pensions, for families headed by someone age 64 or younger, the survey found an overall participation rate of 65.1%. About 70% of families ages 45 to 64 participated, compared with 66% of those ages 35 to 44.

Younger families have been making gains, though. Participation in IRA and workplace accounts among families under 35 rose from 42% in 2016 to nearly 50% in 2025. Their balances remain relatively small. The Fed reported average retirement savings of $48,400 for account holders under 35, compared with $670,200 for those ages 55 to 64, largely because older workers have had more years to save and invest.

Much of the divide comes down to access. Many workers, especially those at small businesses or in part-time and gig jobs, are not offered a workplace plan. Without automatic payroll deductions, saving requires an extra step, and the Fed noted that higher-income families have higher participation rates across every age group and plan type. Families without savings depend more heavily on Social Security, and the 2026 trustees report projects the combined trust funds will run out in 2034, after which 83% of scheduled benefits would still be payable.

Programs Aimed at Closing the Gap

A growing number of states now operate auto-IRA programs. These typically require employers that do not offer their own plan to take action, either by setting up a plan or enrolling workers in a state-run IRA funded through payroll deductions. Workers can usually opt out.

At the federal level, the Saver’s Match begins in 2027. It replaces the older Saver’s Credit and deposits 50% of an eligible worker’s contribution, up to $1,000 a year, directly into a retirement account for qualifying lower- and middle-income savers. 24/7 Wall St. covered the eligibility details earlier this year.

Workers without a plan at work can also open an IRA on their own. According to IRS Publication 590-A, the 2026 contribution limit is $7,500, or $8,600 for people age 50 and older. Readers interested in what those limits could mean over time can use the model below to estimate the long-term effect.

How These Balances Build Over Time

Once an account is in place, staying invested appears to matter. Fidelity data in our earlier piece found that savers who remained in the same 401(k) for five years averaged $304,200, compared with $146,400 across all savers. Our analysis of average retirement savings by age shows how those balances tend to accumulate over a career.

For families outside that 54.9%, the main ways to get started are through a workplace plan, a state auto-IRA program, or an IRA opened independently. Every balance in the Fed’s survey, including the $106,000 median, comes from one of those account types.