Average Net Worth by Age in Australia
"Am I behind?" is one of the most common questions people ask about money — and net worth benchmarks are how most of us try to answer it. So here is what the typical Australian household is actually worth, by age, according to the most recent official figures, along with the context that makes those numbers useful rather than anxiety-inducing.
Average vs median: read this first
Two numbers describe "the typical household," and they tell very different stories.
- The average (mean) adds everyone's wealth and divides by the number of households. A handful of very wealthy households drags it upward.
- The median is the household exactly in the middle — half are above, half below. It's a far better picture of a typical family.
In its most recent published survey (2019–20), the Australian Bureau of Statistics put average household net worth at about $1.04 million, but the median at about $579,000. That roughly $460,000 gap is the clearest possible illustration of how concentrated wealth is: the average describes a household that doesn't really exist in the middle of the pack.
When you compare yourself to a benchmark, compare to the median.
Net worth by age (ABS, 2019–20)
The figures below are average (mean) household net worth by the age of the main income earner, from the ABS Survey of Income and Housing. They're the most recent official national figures — more on that caveat below.
| Age of household | Average net worth |
|---|---|
| 25–29 | $242,000 |
| 30–34 | $441,000 |
| 35–39 | $555,000 |
| 40–44 | $841,000 |
| 45–49 | $1,055,000 |
| 50–54 | $1,212,000 |
| 55–59 | $1,453,000 |
| 60–64 | $1,601,000 |
| 65–69 | $1,835,000 |
| 70–74 | $1,509,000 |
| 75+ | $1,167,000 |
The shape is the real lesson here. Wealth builds slowly through your 20s and 30s, accelerates through your 40s and 50s as mortgages get paid down and super compounds, peaks around 65–69, and then gently declines as retirees draw on what they've built. The steep climb between 35 and 55 is mostly two forces working together: home equity and superannuation.
A few honest caveats
- These are averages, not medians. Because of the skew described above, the median household at each age is meaningfully lower than the average shown. Don't read the table as "what I should have."
- 2019–20 is the most recent official release. The ABS ran a 2023–24 survey but decided not to publish it, as the data didn't meet its quality standards. So these remain the latest authoritative by-age figures.
- Wealth has grown since. Broader ABS measures put average household wealth at roughly $1.6 million in 2025, driven largely by rising house prices — housing makes up close to 70% of household assets nationally. The age pattern still holds; the dollar levels are higher today.
What to actually do with a benchmark
A benchmark is a mirror, not a scoreboard. It's useful for one thing: noticing whether your trajectory is heading where you want it to. Two households with identical net worth can be in completely different positions — one with most of it locked in the family home, another with accessible investments and growing super.
That's why the number that matters most isn't where you sit today, it's the direction and composition of your wealth: what you own, what you owe, what's actually accessible, and whether the trend line points toward the future you want. (We dig into the "accessible" part in Net worth vs usable equity, and into setting a target in How to calculate your FIRE number.)
Benchmarks tell you where the middle of the pack sits. Your own trend line tells you whether you're moving — and that's the one you can change.
Sources: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Household Income and Wealth, Australia, 2019–20; ABS national balance sheet measures, 2025.
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