Average UK net worth by age — 2026 benchmarks from the ONS Wealth and Assets Survey
The average UK household’s net worth roughly doubles every decade of working life. By 55–64 it’s nearly nine times what it was at 25–34. Here are the actual numbers, their source, what they include, and the caveats worth knowing before reading any conclusion off them.
Average UK total wealth by age band
Source: Social Mobility Commission, “Level of wealth”, published 12 September 2023, drawing on the ONS Wealth and Assets Survey (rounds 2016–2020 combined). England, Scotland and Wales. Total wealth = property + pension + physical + financial, less liabilities. Mean values.
The table, with multipliers
| Age band | Average net worth | vs. 25–34 | vs. previous band |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25–34 | £66,000 | 1.0× | — |
| 35–44 | £196,000 | 3.0× | +£130,000 (+197%) |
| 45–54 | £364,000 | 5.5× | +£168,000 (+86%) |
| 55–64 | £575,000 | 8.7× | +£211,000 (+58%) |
The absolute jumps get bigger with each decade, but the percentage growth slows: a household that doubled (+£130k) in their thirties only adds about half as much percentage-wise in their fifties, even though the £-value gain is larger. That’s the compounding signal: once you have meaningful assets, percentage growth compounds on a bigger base.
Why the curve is shaped this way
Three drivers explain almost all of the trajectory:
1. Property — the dominant component for middle-aged UK households
Home equity does the heaviest lifting in middle age, for two compounding reasons. The mortgage balance is shrinking — every monthly payment is a forced contribution to net worth. And UK house prices have, over multi-decade averages, appreciated faster than general inflation. By the time a typical UK homeowner is in their late 40s, their housing equity often represents the largest single line on their net-worth statement.
This is also why the 25–34 band looks so different from the rest. First-time buyer age in the UK is now well into the thirties — the 25–34 band catches large numbers of households who haven’t yet bought a home, where wealth is still small and largely financial.
2. Pension — compounding plus peak contribution years
Defined-contribution pension pots compound on every contribution. Workplace auto-enrolment (UK-wide since 2012, minimum 8% combined) adds a steady drip; many higher earners contribute well above the minimum. Defined benefit accrual, where it exists, is most valuable in the years closest to retirement because the actuarial capital value scales with both years served and approaching payout date.
Result: pension wealth grows fastest in the 45–54 and 55–64 bands — the decades where peak earnings meet long compounding windows still open.
3. Time itself
Anything bought earlier has had longer to grow. ISAs opened in the 30s have decades of tax-free compounding by retirement; houses bought in the 30s have had a full property cycle (or more) to appreciate. The 25–34 band hasn’t had time yet; the 55–64 band has had thirty years of it.
Important caveat: these are means, not medians
Wealth distributions are heavily right-skewed. A small number of very wealthy households pull the mean materially above the median for any given age band. The true median UK household net worth at each age is meaningfully lower than the mean — the ratio varies by source and methodology, but you can roughly expect the median to be 30–50% below the mean for working-age UK households.
Practical implication: if your net worth is at the mean for your age band, you are typically comfortably above the median — probably between the 60th and 70th percentile. If your net worth equals 50% of the mean for your age band, you are most likely close to the median, not below it.
The Office for National Statistics publishes median figures separately in the Wealth and Assets Survey detailed tables; the Social Mobility Commission’s headline benchmark chart that this page draws from uses means because that’s the figure cited in most news coverage and policy discussion.
What’s included in “wealth”
The ONS Wealth and Assets Survey measures total household wealth as the sum of four components, minus liabilities:
- Property wealth — home value minus outstanding mortgage. The dominant component for the median UK household.
- Pension wealth — defined-contribution pot values plus the actuarial capital equivalent of any defined-benefit entitlement. Often the second-largest component.
- Financial wealth — cash, current account balances, ISAs, non-ISA investments. Typically the smallest of the four for working-age households until retirement draws closer.
- Physical wealth — household contents, vehicles, valuables. Small but consistent across age bands.
Liabilities — mortgages, personal loans, credit cards, student loans — are subtracted to give net worth.
How to find your own percentile
Add up your assets across the four categories above, subtract your liabilities, and compare against the average for your age band. The structured way to do this — including UK-specific handling for multiple pension pots, DB pension approximation, and the student-loan toggle (UK convention often excludes it) — is in the free calculator:
The free UK Net Worth Calculator takes inputs for cash, ISAs, multiple pensions, DB pensions, property and debts; outputs your net worth plus how far you sit above or below the UK average for your age band using the same figures shown on this page. Client-side; your numbers never leave the browser.
Open calculator →Source and methodology notes
Primary source: Office for National Statistics, Wealth and Assets Survey, rounds covering April 2016 to March 2020 combined.
Re-publication used here: Social Mobility Commission, “Level of wealth”, State of the Nation publication, published 12 September 2023. Open Government Licence v3.0.
Geographic coverage: England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland is sampled separately by NISRA and not included in the cited figures.
Inflation: Data adjusted for inflation by the ONS, weighted using WAS individual weights. Confidence intervals at 95% available in the underlying dataset.
Update cadence: The Wealth and Assets Survey runs on a rolling basis with rounds typically two years apart; the Social Mobility Commission’s State of the Nation 2024 release did not include updated figures for this indicator. Newer data from subsequent WAS rounds will revise these numbers when published.
FAQs
What is the average UK net worth by age?
Per the ONS Wealth and Assets Survey (2016–2020 combined), published by the Social Mobility Commission: £66,000 for 25–34 year olds, £196,000 for 35–44, £364,000 for 45–54, and £575,000 for 55–64. Figures cover England, Scotland and Wales and include property, pension, physical and financial wealth less liabilities.
Is this a median or a mean?
Mean (the simple average). Wealth distributions are right-skewed by the ultra-wealthy, so the mean is materially higher than the median for any given age band. If you are at or slightly below the mean for your age band, you are typically comfortably above the median — closer to the 60th–70th percentile in practice.
Why does net worth jump so much between age bands?
Property, pension, and compounding. The biggest jumps are when the mortgage is shrinking fastest, the pension hits peak contribution years, and accumulated assets have had longer to grow. The 25–34 → 35–44 step is particularly steep because most UK first-time buyers cross between those bands.
What’s included in the wealth figure?
Property (home value minus mortgage), pension (DC pots + DB actuarial value), financial (cash, ISAs, investments) and physical (vehicles, household contents, valuables) — minus all liabilities.
How do I find my own percentile?
Add your assets, subtract your liabilities, compare to the average for your age band above — or use the free UK Net Worth Calculator which automates the comparison and handles multiple pension pots and DB approximations.
Why are figures only for ages 25 to 64?
The Social Mobility Commission’s published dataset focuses on working-age wealth accumulation. The underlying ONS Wealth and Assets Survey covers older age bands too — figures for the 65+ population can be extracted from the detailed survey tables.
Republish / cite this data
These figures are official UK government data published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Journalists, bloggers and researchers are welcome to cite and reproduce them with proper attribution to the primary source (ONS Wealth and Assets Survey) and the secondary source (Social Mobility Commission, State of the Nation). If you find this page useful, an attribution link back is appreciated but not required by the licence.
Nothing on this page is regulated financial advice. The figures are descriptive statistics about UK households as a group; they are not benchmarks for any individual’s financial planning and should not be treated as targets.