How the Typical American Checking Account Balance Stacks Up

(KMDL-FM) It may not be long before we stop calling the bank accounts tied to our debit cards "checking accounts." That term made perfect sense when people used one account for spending and another for saving, but checks are far less common now.

Even so, many people still need to write a check from time to time. The real question here is not the check itself, but the account and the balance you keep in it.

What Is the Average Balance in an American Checking Account?

We are looking at two different figures here, both drawn from data reviewed by The Motley Fool. The financial site examined both the average amount held in American checking accounts and the median amount held in them.

What separates "average" from "median"? Michigan State University explains it this way: "The average (specifically the arithmetic mean) adds up all the numbers in a dataset and divides by the total count. The median is the exact middle value when all the numbers are listed in order."

The Average Checking Account Balance May Surprise You

According to The Motley Fool, the average checking account balance in the United States is $15,472.00. That is far above what many people would expect, but the number is pulled upward by a small number of very large balances. Mine is certainly not one of them.

Looking instead at the median, the figure is much closer to what most people might guess: $3,000. For male heads of household, the median comes in at about $4,420, while females in the same role have a median balance of $1,000. Americans living with a spouse or partner have a median balance of $5,500.

Checking Account Balances by Age Compared With the Rest of the Country

Age has a major impact on how much money people keep in checking accounts. The Motley Fool reports that Americans ages 75 and older have the highest balances. Here is how other age groups compare:

Under age 35 – Median balance $1,900
Ages 35-44 – Median balance $2,400
Ages 45-54 – Median balance $3,700
Ages 55-64 – Median balance $3,430
Ages 65-74 – Median balance $4,000
Ages 75/older – Median balance $5,000

Education level also played a role in the results. If you want more money sitting in your accounts, staying in school still seems like a smart move.

We could probably all get together somewhere and talk about this, or at least share our financial frustration. Here are a few places we could go. We cannot promise money advice, but we can promise a good time.

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