The Net Worth That Makes You Wealthier Than The Average Millennial

If you're in your 30s or early 40s, chances are you've spent years trying to save whatever you can, building up assets while paying off student loans, credit cards, or other debt. You may be wondering how your net worth stacks up against other millennials, a group that currently ranges from 29 to 44 years old. The answer depends on where you fall on the spectrum, as net worth tends to rise in tandem with age. Older millennials generally need a net worth of more than half a million dollars to be considered wealthier than their average peer. For younger millennials, the threshold is considerably lower (and it's lower still if you consider the median net worth instead of the average). 

Determining how to calculate your net worth is straightforward. First, add up your assets: everything from savings and investments to home equity, a business, and even your car. Then subtract any debt you owe, including student loans, credit card balances, car loans, or a mortgage. 

According to the Federal Reserve's most recent Survey of Consumer Finances, millennials ages 35 to 44 had an average net worth of roughly $550,000 in 2022. The picture was a little less precise for younger millennials, as the survey grouped everyone under 35 together, including Generation Z. For the younger cohort, the average net worth was about $184,000 in 2022. A separate LendingTree study that used the Fed's data to compare millennials' finances with those of other generations at the same age found the average net worth for the whole millennial group to be roughly $327,000. At the time of the study, millennials were between 26 and 41 years old. Note that both the Fed's report and the LendingTree study peg millennial's median net worth far lower, at $135,600 and $84,941, respectively.

Whether or not you're wealthier than your peers, millennials as a group can take comfort in knowing they're actually doing as well, or even better, than older generations were at the same age. According to the LendingTree study, and contrary to the belief that money phobia is crushing millennials, their average net worth is about the same as that of their Generation X peers in 2007, roughly $328,000, when they were 27 to 42 (the median is $78,333). Meanwhile, baby boomers in 1989, at the ages of 25 to 43, had an average net worth of just $231,000 and a median net worth of $58,101, also lower than millennials today.  

Matt Schulz, LendingTree's chief consumer finance analyst, believes millennials have benefited from observing the difficulties older generations have faced. "I think that the scars from the Great Recession and the pandemic have helped shape millennials' views on money, forcing them to be more focused on their finances than other generations have had to be," he said, adding, "That focus has prompted them to learn more about money, get started with investing and savings earlier, become more entrepreneurial and make other financially focused moves that have helped set them up for success." 

If you're a millennial looking to increase your net worth, start with the basics: Create and maintain a budget, contribute regularly to a tax-advantaged retirement savings account, and take advantage of work-related benefits. Also, avoid making common financial mistakes, such as taking on too much high-interest debt and neglecting to have some funds stashed away in case of an emergency — three to six months' worth of expenses is a good rule of thumb.