Average Savings by Age
Enter what you have in checking and savings and pick your age group to see the Federal Reserve's median bank balance for people like you — plus, optionally, how many months of expenses that would cover.
Example: with Checking + savings balance $9,000 · Your age group Under 35 · Monthly expenses 3,200 $/mo → Your balance: $9,000.
- Median for your age group$5,400
- You vs. the median1.7× the median
- Months of expenses covered2.8 months
Computed by the calculator below using its default values. Change any input to see your own numbers.
How you compare
Your balance vs. the median for your age group
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Compare savings ratesSavings isn't the same as wealth
A checking-and-savings balance is only the most liquid slice of a household's finances — the bulk of most Americans' wealth sits in home equity and retirement accounts, not cash. That's exactly why the median transaction-account balance looks modest ($5,400 to $13,400 depending on age) even for households with a healthy net worth. Use this page for the cash-on-hand question specifically; see our average net worth by age page for the fuller wealth picture.
How it’s calculated & sources
You enter your checking-and-savings balance and pick an age bracket; we compare your number to the published median transaction-account balance for that bracket. If you add monthly expenses, we also divide your balance by that figure to estimate months of coverage.
Benchmark: median transaction-account balance by age, Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances (2022) via Experian — transaction accounts = checking, savings, money market, and prepaid.
Results update as you type and are general estimates for context, not personalized financial advice.
Common mistakes
- Comparing your checking-and-savings balance to your total net worth — they measure very different things.
- Leaving an emergency fund in a near-0% checking account instead of a high-yield savings account paying meaningfully more.
- Assuming a below-median balance is unusual — the medians themselves are low because wealth concentrates in housing and retirement accounts.
Frequently asked questions
Is the median really that low?
Yes. Median transaction-account balances (checking, savings, money market, and prepaid combined) run from about $5,400 to $13,400 depending on age, per the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances. Most household wealth sits in home equity and retirement accounts, not cash sitting in a bank account, so a modest checking-and-savings balance is completely normal even for financially healthy households.
What's the 3-6 month rule?
The standard emergency-fund guideline is to keep 3 to 6 months of essential expenses in cash you can access immediately, as a buffer against job loss or a major unplanned bill. Enter your monthly expenses above and we'll show how many months your current balance would cover.
Should I move my savings to a high-yield account?
Often, yes. The FDIC's national average savings rate was about 0.38% APY as of June 2026, while top high-yield savings accounts (HYSAs) were paying 4%+ APY — on a $9,000 balance that gap is worth several hundred dollars a year in otherwise-free interest, with no added risk since both are FDIC-insured up to the standard limits.
Where does the 75+ figure come from?
It's the median transaction-account balance for households aged 75 and older in the Federal Reserve's 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances, the same triennial survey used for every age bracket on this page.