Are You on Track to Buy a Home in Your 30s or 40s? Compare Your Savings With the Average-awdailynews

webadmin

2025-11-08

Are You on Track to Buy a Home in Your 30s or 40s? Compare Your Savings With the Average

MoMo Productions / Getty Images For many Americans, even putting the least amount down on a house—3% for first-time homebuyers—is out of reach, research shows. The few that are able to afford it have likely been saving for years. — MoMo Productions / Getty Images

For many Americans, even putting the least amount down on a house—3% for first-time homebuyers—is out of reach, research shows. The few that are able to afford it have likely been saving for years.

Those under age 35 had a median transaction account balance of $5,400 as of 2022 and an average balance of $21,000. Those in the 35-44 range had a median of $7,500 and an average of $42,000. Those in the 45-54 range had a median of $9,000 and an average of $71,000.
The average down payment on a home in the U.S. is around $60,000, as of the third quarter of 2025.
If you’re looking to buy a home in your 30s or 40s, you can boost your savings by seeking out down payment assistance, strategically paying down debt, and by dipping into retirement accounts, when possible.

If you’re thinking of buying a home, one of the first things you’ll need to know is how much cash you have available for your down payment, closing costs, and other expenses.

To determine whether you’re on track, it’s helpful to get a sense of where other savers are. Below, we’ll explore the average and median savings account balances of 30-somethings and 40-somethings so you can see how your situation compares.

How much do most people in the U.S. have saved in their 30s and 40s? The Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances can answer this question.

Median Transaction Account Balances by Age
	Under 35	35-44	45-54	55-64	65-74	75 or older
2013	$2,800	$4,840	$5,090	$6,360	$8,910	$8,910
2016	$3,150	$4,690	$5,010	$6,620	$9,870	$12,330
2019	$3,760	$5,460	$7,420	$6,520	$9,270	$10,780
2022	$5,400	$7,500	$8,700	$8,000	$13,400	$10,000

Each figure in the tables represent transaction accounts (including savings accounts, checking accounts, money market accounts, brokerage cash accounts, and prepaid debit cards) for survey respondents in 2022 dollars.

Average Transaction Account Balances by Age
	Under 35	35-44	45-54	55-64	65-74	75 or older
2013	$12,830	$36,920	$39,370	$67,830	$69,800	$65,420
2016	$11,830	$30,820	$50,040	$70,570	$83,470	$63,440
2019	$13,040	$32,360	$55,880	$66,850	$70,030	$64,130
2022	$20,540	$41,540	$71,180	$72,520	$100,250	$82,800

While the Survey of Consumer Finances doesn’t provide detailed information about respondents’ account balances at either age 30 or 40, we can get a sense of the discrepancy in savings balances between individuals under age 35 and those in the 35-44 range. As of 2022, those two groups had median transaction account balances of $5,400 and $7,500, respectively, and average transaction account balances of $20,540 and $41,540, respectively.

Looking at the median figures above (and some of the average figures, too), a down payment appears to be out of reach for many Americans—to say nothing of all of the other costs involved in the home-buying process. Typical closing costs, for example, range from 3% to 6% of the purchase price.