USA: Americans over 75 are getting richer, under 35 they are getting poorer
A Federal Reserve report shows a growing wealth gap between older and younger generations as well as rising debt burdens.
Quick Look
- According to a Federal Reserve report, households with members over the age of 75 are the wealthiest in the United States.
- While the wealth of older people increased due to share price gains, the wealth of young families fell significantly.
- In addition, the debt burden on households increased.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
The Federal Reserve conducts a survey of consumer financial behavior every three years. The current report compares data from 2022 and 2025.
Benefiting from the ongoing gains on the stock markets, households whose members are over 75 years old are now the richest in the USA. The wealth of young families, however, has declined sharply in the past three years. This emerges from a government report published on Friday.
The results of the US Federal Reserve's three-yearly survey of consumer financial behavior show that the strong gains in the stock markets have made wealthier American households even wealthier. The median net worth of the richest ten percent of US households rose by 31 percent to $3.6 million between 2022 and 2025.
Among the oldest households - those whose members are 75 years old or older - the median net worth rose to just under $505,000, from just over $367,000 in 2022. In the last survey, households between the ages of 65 and 74 were the richest.
Strong gap between old and young generations
Those aged 35 and younger, however, reported a median net worth of just $33,000 - a decline of 23 percent compared to 2022.
Overall, the survey also found broad-based income increases. Income inequality decreased slightly compared to 2022. The incomes of higher-income households fell slightly. Median household incomes, on the other hand, have risen by around seven percent to around $82,000 since 2022, the Fed said.
At the same time, the proportion of Americans struggling with high debt payments rose significantly. In 2025, almost 20 percent of US households said they had paid a loan installment late in the previous year. In 2022 it was 12.2 percent. In addition, the proportion of households spending at least 40 percent of their income on debt repayments rose to 8.6 percent - the highest level in at least twelve years.
Open Questions
- What specific factors led to the decline in wealth among young families?
- How does monetary policy respond to the increasing debt burden?
