Average 401(k) Balance by Age (2026 Data)

What is the average 401(k) balance by age in 2026?

At year-end 2025 the average Vanguard 401(k) balance was $167,970 and the median was $44,115 — both records. Balances climb steeply with age, from an average of $7,259 for workers under 25 to $330,186 for those 65 and older. The median is far lower at every age, and it's the more honest benchmark.

The single most useful table in retirement saving is balance by age, because it lets you see the whole arc — how accounts build over a career — and locate yourself on it. The figures below come from Vanguard's How America Saves 2026 report, which covers millions of defined-contribution accounts, with data as of December 31, 2025. Both the average and the median are shown, because they tell very different stories.

Average vs. median: which number should you trust?

The median. The average is pulled far above what a typical saver has by a small number of very large accounts. At year-end 2025 the average balance ($167,970) was nearly four times the median ($44,115) — so if you measure yourself against the average, you'll feel behind even when you're right in the middle of the pack.

A median is the exact midpoint: half of savers have more, half have less. An average adds every balance and divides, so a handful of million-dollar accounts drag it upward and away from the typical experience. The size of the gap here — the average is almost 4× the median — tells you just how skewed 401(k) balances are. For judging your own standing, the median is the number that matters.

The choice of provider matters too, because each recordkeeper sees a different slice of the country. Fidelity's Q1 2026 analysis put its average 401(k) balance at about $141,000 across its book of business — lower than Vanguard's average, largely because of a different mix of employers and plan sizes. Neither is "wrong"; they're different samples. What both agree on is the shape: median balances are a fraction of the averages, and both rose to records on the back of strong markets and a record 14.4% total savings rate.

How do you compare at your age?

Find your age band above and compare with the median first, not the average. If you're at or above the median for your band, you're ahead of at least half your peers. Being below the average is normal — most people are, because the average is skewed high. The real test is your trajectory, not a single snapshot.

Use the table as a mirror, but a gentle one. If you're 38 with $50,000 saved, you're slightly above the $46,919 median for the 35–44 band — comfortably mid-pack — even though you're less than half the $120,742 average. That's not a failure; it's what the middle looks like. The average being so far above you is a statistical artifact of a few huge accounts, not a sign you're behind.

Two caveats keep this honest. First, these are balances in a single provider's accounts — many people hold retirement money in old 401(k)s, IRAs, or a spouse's plan that this snapshot can't see, so your true total may be higher than any one account suggests. Second, a balance is a point in time; what actually determines your retirement is your savings rate and years left to compound. A 30-year-old below the median with 35 years to go is in a far stronger position than the number alone implies.

How much should you have saved by each age?

A widely used benchmark from Fidelity is to save at least 15% of income a year (including any employer match) and to hit rough salary multiples along the way: about 1× your salary by 30, 3× by 40, 6× by 50, 8× by 60, and 10× by 67. Treat them as guideposts, not verdicts.

Comparing yourself to other people tells you where you stand; comparing yourself to a target tells you where you're going. Fidelity's guideline pairs a savings rate — 15% of income including the match — with age-based salary multiples. Those multiples assume you start saving at 25, keep more than half your portfolio in stocks, and want to maintain your lifestyle in retirement; change those assumptions and the targets move. On a $70,000 salary they translate to:

Your catch-up plan by age

Wherever you land, the fix is the same lever pulled harder: raise your savings rate toward 15%, capture the full employer match first, and use the higher contribution limits the closer you get to retirement. The 2026 limits reward late savers especially, with an enhanced catch-up for ages 60–63.

In your 20s and 30s, time is the asset. You likely can't out-save a 55-year-old in dollars, but decades of compounding do the heavy lifting — a dollar in at 25 is worth several at 55. Capture the full employer match (it's an instant 50–100% return), then push toward 15%. See how a modest monthly contribution snowballs in the compound-interest calculator and model your own plan in the 401(k) calculator.

In your 40s and 50s, income usually peaks — this is when the savings rate does the work. From the year you turn 50 you can add a catch-up contribution on top of the standard limit, and there's now a larger catch-up for ages 60–63. The 2026 elective-deferral limits are: