Wealthy PotAverage IRA Balance by Age: Traditional and Roth, From IRS Data
The average IRA owner in the United States held $205,238 across all of their IRAs at the end of 2023, according to IRS tax data published in June 2026. The figure climbs steadily with age, from about $8,000 in the early 20s to a peak of $392,867 at ages 70 to 74. The average Roth IRA is far smaller, at $57,450. Those are averages, pulled up by a minority of very large accounts. The typical, or median, traditional IRA holds about $35,790. This page gives both numbers by age, splits Roth from traditional, and explains why IRA balances end up so large in retirement.
Table of Contents
The Short Answer
- $205,238 is the average end-of-2023 value of all IRAs held by each of the 71.1 million taxpayers who owned one (IRS Statistics of Income).
- The average traditional IRA held $225,413; the average Roth IRA held $57,450.
- By age, the average total peaks at $392,867 for owners aged 70 to 74, then falls as required withdrawals draw accounts down.
- The median traditional IRA was $35,790 at year-end 2023 (ICI). Medians run far below averages at every age.
- About one in three people on a 2023 tax return owned an IRA, rising past half from age 65.
- At Fidelity, the average IRA was $144,523 on June 30, 2026, a record and up 10% in a year.
- Rollovers, not contributions, build the big balances: in 2023, $682.4 billion was rolled into IRAs against $89.1 billion contributed.
Average IRA Balance by Age
Most "IRA balance by age" tables online come from a single brokerage's customers. The broadest source is the IRS itself. Every IRA custodian files Form 5498 each year reporting the account's year-end value, and the IRS Statistics of Income division matches those forms to tax returns. Its study for tax year 2023, released in June 2026, is the most recent. Because it adds up every IRA a person holds across every firm, it measures what an individual actually owns rather than one account at one provider.
| Age | Share who own an IRA | Average value of all their IRAs |
|---|---|---|
| 20–24 | 11.3% | $8,134 |
| 25–29 | 19.7% | $13,041 |
| 30–34 | 23.4% | $23,801 |
| 35–39 | 25.5% | $43,029 |
| 40–44 | 27.7% | $68,530 |
| 45–49 | 31.6% | $105,703 |
| 50–54 | 34.6% | $146,255 |
| 55–59 | 39.2% | $213,507 |
| 60–64 | 45.3% | $292,135 |
| 65–69 | 52.8% | $370,237 |
| 70–74 | 54.3% | $392,867 |
| 75–79 | 54.1% | $372,901 |
| 80 and over | 53.7% | $300,463 |
| All ages | 33.0% | $205,238 |
Three patterns stand out. Balances rise by half or more every five years through the 30s and 40s, which is what steady saving plus market returns look like. The biggest dollar gains come between 55 and 69, when people leave jobs and roll their 401(k)s over. And the average falls after 74, because the IRS generally requires traditional IRA owners to start taking money out at 73, and the required share of the balance rises every year.
Average Roth IRA vs Traditional IRA Balance by Age
The same IRS study splits the averages by account type. Unlike the table above, these averages are published directly by the IRS.
| Age | Average traditional IRA | Average Roth IRA |
|---|---|---|
| 20–24 | $9,315 | $7,242 |
| 25–29 | $9,992 | $12,586 |
| 30–34 | $19,079 | $20,964 |
| 35–39 | $38,689 | $29,871 |
| 40–44 | $65,410 | $40,594 |
| 45–49 | $106,831 | $46,131 |
| 50–54 | $149,406 | $54,572 |
| 55–59 | $214,117 | $65,379 |
| 60–64 | $289,052 | $72,027 |
| 65–69 | $357,902 | $90,028 |
| 70 and over | $334,461 | $134,039 |
| All ages | $225,413 | $57,450 |
Under 35, the average Roth is level with or ahead of the average traditional IRA. Young savers favour the Roth, and ICI's 2025 household survey found 28% of households under 35 owned one, against 17% owning a traditional IRA. After 35 the traditional IRA pulls away, and by the late 60s it is four times the size of the Roth. The reason is not that traditional IRAs earn more. It is that 401(k) money usually rolls into a traditional IRA, while a Roth is mostly fed by contributions capped at a few thousand dollars a year.
Weighing which account to fund next? Our traditional vs Roth IRA guide covers the tax trade-off, and the Roth IRA calculator projects a balance from your own contributions.
Median IRA Balance by Age
The IRS publishes only averages. A median, the balance of the account in the exact middle, is a better picture of a normal saver, and it comes from the Investment Company Institute's IRA Investor Database, which collects account records from mutual fund and insurance companies.
| Age | Median traditional IRA (2023) | Median Roth IRA (2020) |
|---|---|---|
| 25–29 | $2,730 | $9,470 |
| 30–34 | $4,040 | $14,910 |
| 35–39 | $7,040 | $19,470 |
| 40–44 | $12,840 | $22,510 |
| 45–49 | $20,240 | $23,880 |
| 50–54 | $29,870 | $25,100 |
| 55–59 | $41,440 | $26,660 |
| 60–64 | $57,300 | $29,100 |
| 65–69 | $81,830 | $34,610 |
| 70–74 | $104,460 | $40,390 |
| 75 and over | $102,410 | $45,070 |
| All ages | $35,790 | $21,170 |
The gap between average and median is wide. At 65 to 69, the IRS average for a traditional IRA is $357,902; ICI's median is $81,830. A minority of accounts holding seven figures, mostly large rollovers, lift the mean. ICI's distribution shows 24.0% of traditional IRA investors with less than $5,000 and 31.6% with $100,000 or more.
Note the oddity in the young rows: the median Roth is several times the median traditional IRA. Many small traditional IRAs are automatic rollovers of tiny 401(k) balances left behind by people who changed jobs early, often parked in cash. The Roth figures are from 2020, before the strong markets of 2023 to 2025, so today's Roth medians are almost certainly higher; no primary source has published newer ones.
Counting by household rather than account gives larger numbers, because couples combine accounts. ICI's mid-2025 survey puts the median IRA holding of households that own one at $100,000. Our own calculation from the Federal Reserve's 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances, which counts every family, finds a median of about $85,900 among families holding an IRA, ranging from about $12,000 when the head of household is under 35 to about $168,800 at 55 to 64. For the full picture across 401(k)s and IRAs together, see average retirement savings by age.
Why IRAs Get Bigger Than 401(k)s Later in Life
An IRA's annual contribution limit is a fraction of a 401(k)'s: $7,500 for 2026, or $8,600 at 50 and over, against $24,500 for a 401(k). Yet among people in their late 60s, IRAs hold more. The IRS average for owners aged 65 to 69 is $370,237, while Vanguard's 401(k) data shows an average of $330,186 for participants 65 and over. Those come from different populations, but the direction is clear and it has one cause.
Rollovers. When people retire or change jobs, the 401(k) usually moves into an IRA, and the IRA contribution limit does not apply to a rollover. In 2023, the IRS recorded $682.4 billion of rollovers into IRAs against $89.1 billion of contributions, so rollovers made up about 88% of the money arriving through those two routes. ICI's survey finds 61% of traditional IRA households hold rolled-over money, and for those households the median share of the balance that came from a former employer's plan is 80%. Their median traditional IRA was $200,000, against $62,500 for IRAs funded only by contributions.
A hypothetical example shows the scale. Someone who contributes $7,500 a year for ten years puts in $75,000 before any growth. A 62-year-old who rolls over a 401(k) at the Vanguard 55 to 64 median of $107,269 moves more than that in a single day. The age pattern in the tables above is really a career pattern: an IRA becomes the main retirement account once the job ends. If you are about to make that move, read our 401(k) rollover guide first.
This is not true everywhere or at every age. At Fidelity in mid-2026 the average IRA ($144,523) was slightly below the average 401(k) ($155,800). Each provider's customer base produces its own average, which is one more reason to prefer the IRS figures for comparisons by age.
The Latest Quarterly Number
The IRS data is the broadest, but it runs about two and a half years behind. For a current reading, Fidelity publishes the average balance across its own IRAs every quarter. Its Q2 2026 analysis covers 20.3 million IRA accounts as of June 30, 2026:
| Quarter | Average Fidelity IRA balance |
|---|---|
| Q2 2023 | $115,000 |
| Q2 2024 | $125,200 |
| Q2 2025 | $131,400 |
| Q1 2026 | $131,400 |
| Q2 2026 | $144,523 |
Fidelity also reports that women's IRAs averaged $130,231, that women directed 72% of their IRA contributions to Roth accounts, and that IRA contributions overall rose 36% from a year earlier. Fidelity does not currently publish IRA balances by age or generation, so any table online that shows "Fidelity IRA balance by age" for 2026 is not quoting Fidelity's own release.
How Much Should You Have in an IRA?
No official body sets a target for an IRA alone, and judging yourself against an IRA average is misleading if most of your savings sit in a 401(k), a Thrift Savings Plan or a pension. The better yardstick covers everything you have saved for retirement. Fidelity publishes one, which it calls aspirational: 1x your salary by 30, 3x by 40, 6x by 50, 8x by 60 and 10x by 67. It assumes you save 15% of income a year from age 25, including any employer match, keep more than half of it in stocks and retire at 67.
Applied to a hypothetical 55-year-old earning $80,000, the guideline points to somewhere between $480,000 (6x at 50) and $640,000 (8x at 60) across all accounts. If that person's IRA alone matches the IRS average for 55 to 59 ($213,507), they are well ahead of the typical saver and still short of the guideline unless a 401(k) or pension covers the rest. Our guide to how much you need to retire works the number from your own spending instead of a multiple, and average net worth by age adds home equity and other assets. Timing matters too: most people stop work earlier than they plan, at a median of 62 (see average retirement age).
If you are behind, the levers are the IRA itself (the 2026 limit of $7,500, or $8,600 at 50 and over, applies to traditional and Roth combined; see Roth IRA contribution limits for 2026) and, if you have one, a workplace plan with far higher limits. Heirs have different rules again; see inherited IRAs.
Sources & Methodology
- IRS Statistics of Income, Accumulation and Distribution of Individual Retirement Arrangements: tax year 2023 Tables 1, 4 and 8 (published June 2026), from Forms 5498 and 1099-R matched to Form 1040.
- Investment Company Institute, The IRA Investor Database: traditional IRA medians by age, year-end 2023 (March 2026 report and data tables) and Roth IRA medians by age, year-end 2020 (July 2024).
- ICI, The Role of IRAs in US Households' Saving for Retirement, 2025 (June 2026): ownership by age, rollover shares and household medians.
- Fidelity Investments, Q2 2026 Retirement Analysis: average IRA balance as of June 30, 2026.
- Federal Reserve, 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances: public summary extract, IRA and Keogh holdings by age of family head.
- Vanguard, How America Saves 2026: 401(k) balances by age for comparison.
- IRS, IRA contribution limits and Fidelity's savings guideline.
Method notes. IRS figures count individuals and add together every IRA of a given type that a person holds; the all-IRA averages and ownership shares by age are our division of the IRS's published totals. ICI's medians count each investor once per data provider, which understates the total for people with several IRAs. The SCF figures are our calculation from the Federal Reserve's public microdata using the Fed's own five-implicate method, in 2022 dollars; the same code reproduces the Fed's published retirement-account table. Each source covers a different population and date, so the numbers should be compared within a table, not across tables.
This article is for general information and is not financial, investment or tax advice. Figures are from the IRS, the Investment Company Institute, Fidelity, Vanguard and the Federal Reserve, checked against the primary sources on 2026-10-04. Averages are pulled up by a small number of very large accounts, and your own balance depends on income, job history, rollovers and markets. Consider speaking to a qualified professional before making retirement decisions.
FAQ
What is the average IRA balance?
$205,238 per owner across all IRA types at the end of 2023, from IRS tax data covering 71.1 million owners. Fidelity's average for its own IRAs was $144,523 on June 30, 2026.
What is the average Roth IRA balance by age?
IRS data for 2023 shows $12,586 at ages 25 to 29, $40,594 at 40 to 44, $65,379 at 55 to 59, $90,028 at 65 to 69 and $134,039 at 70 and over. The average across all ages was $57,450.
What is the median IRA balance?
$35,790 for a traditional IRA at year-end 2023 and $21,170 for a Roth IRA at year-end 2020, per ICI. Counting households, ICI's mid-2025 survey found a median of $100,000 among households that own an IRA.
What is the average IRA balance at age 60?
For owners aged 60 to 64, the IRS average across all IRAs was $292,135 in 2023. The median traditional IRA for that age, per ICI, was $57,300.
What is the average IRA balance for a 70-year-old?
Ages 70 to 74 have the highest average of any group, $392,867 per owner across all IRAs in 2023. ICI's median traditional IRA at 70 to 74 was $104,460.
Why are traditional IRA balances so much larger than Roth balances?
Mostly rollovers. 401(k) money usually rolls into a traditional IRA, and in 2023 rollovers into IRAs ($682.4 billion) were more than seven times contributions ($89.1 billion). Roth IRAs are mainly funded by capped annual contributions.
How many Americans have an IRA?
About 71.1 million individuals had an IRA in 2023, a third of people on tax returns, per the IRS. ICI's survey counts 59.6 million households, or 44.2%, in mid-2025.
How much can I put in an IRA in 2026?
$7,500, or $8,600 if you are 50 or older, across all your traditional and Roth IRAs combined, or your taxable compensation if that is less. The limit does not apply to rollovers.
Cite This Page
Journalists, educators and bloggers are welcome to cite these statistics. Please link back so readers can reach the primary sources and method notes.
"Average IRA Balance by Age: Traditional and Roth, From IRS Data." Wealthy Pot, 2026. https://wealthypot.com/average-ira-balance-by-age/
