What should your net worth be at 40?

At 40 you sit in the middle of the Federal Reserve’s 35 to 44 bracket. In the 2025 survey that group’s median net worth was $155,600 and the average $681,900. The 25th percentile was $18,000, the 75th about $468,000, and the top 10% started near $1.23 million.

So a “should” answer looks like this: above $155,600 beats half of families your age; above $468,000 beats three quarters. Around 13% of families in this bracket are millionaires.

The gap between the median and the average is the story of this age. Home equity and retirement accounts have started to compound for some families and not for others. If you’re below the median at 40, the fix is the boring one: max the 401(k) match, keep paying the mortgage, and avoid new car debt. Ten years of that moves most families into the top half.

See the 35 to 44 percentile table and the calculator for your own number on the average net worth by age page.