ABS 2019-20 data

How does your net worth compare?

See where your household's wealth sits against other Australians your age, using the latest ABS data.

How does your net worth compare?
See where your household sits among Australians your age.

Everything you own minus what you owe — including home equity & super.

Your household is wealthier than an estimated

71%

of Young (25–40) Australian households.

Above the median for your age ($238,000)
You

$500,000

Median

$238,000

Top 5%

$1,558,000

Based on ABS Survey of Income and Housing 2019-20 — the most recent ABS release (the 2023-24 survey was not published). Household net worth includes the family home and super.

Most people can quote their salary and their super balance, but few have ever added up their household net worth — everything the household owns minus everything it owes. It is the one figure that pulls home equity, super, savings and debts onto a single line.

Comparing that total to a national average tells you little, because wealth is largely a function of time. This page ranks you against households in your own age group, using the Australian Bureau of Statistics Survey of Income and Housing, so you are measured against your own peers, not against retirees with three extra decades of accumulation.

How this is calculated

  1. 1

    Your age picks the comparison group

    The ABS wealth data is grouped into three age bands: young households (25–40), middle-aged (41–64) and retired (65+). Your age selects one band, and every figure after that — the median, the top 5% marker, the milestone table — comes from that band alone.

  2. 2

    The band's measured percentiles become the scale

    Each band carries five checkpoints taken from the survey: the 25th percentile, the median, the 75th, the 95th (top 5%) and the 99th (top 1%). These are published survey figures rather than a fitted curve.

  3. 3

    Your figure is placed between the two nearest checkpoints

    The tool finds the pair of checkpoints your net worth falls between and reads your rank off a straight line between them, then rounds to a whole percentile. Zero or less returns 0%; anything at or above the 99th reads as 99%.

  4. 4

    The detail panel prices each remaining rung

    The advanced section reads the same checkpoints in reverse: the dollars still needed to reach the median, the 75th, the top 5% and the top 1%, plus what one percentile point is worth where you sit. That cost climbs steeply near the top.

  5. 5

    The projection re-ranks you at every future age

    The optional projection compounds today's net worth at a return you choose, adds your yearly saving, then re-ranks it against the ABS percentiles for your age in each future year. Your percentile can fall in the year you cross into an older band.

What it assumes

  • Everything is measured per household, not per person — a couple's assets and debts count together, so entering only your own share understates where you sit.
  • Figures are in 2019-20 dollars and are not indexed forward, so read the result as a relative ranking rather than a present-day dollar comparison.
  • There are only three broad age bands, so a 41-year-old and a 63-year-old are measured against identical thresholds.
  • Ranks between checkpoints are interpolated in a straight line, so positions far from a measured point are approximations.
  • The scale stops at the 99th percentile — every household above the top 1% mark reads the same.
  • Nothing adjusts for household size, composition or location, and the projection ignores tax, fees, inflation and spending shocks.

Common questions

What should I include in household net worth?

Everything the household owns at market value: the family home and any other property, super balances, savings, shares and managed funds, vehicles, contents and business assets. Then subtract mortgages and investment loans, car and personal loans, credit-card balances and HECS/HELP debt. The ABS measure includes both the family home and super, so leaving either out will place you well below where you sit.

Why is the data from 2019-20 and not something more recent?

The ABS did not publish its 2023-24 Survey of Income and Housing, so 2019-20 remains the most recent official picture of how household wealth is distributed. Both your own net worth and the benchmarks would be larger in today's dollars, which is why the answer is a percentile rank rather than a dollar gap.

Why is the average so much higher than the median?

For middle-aged households the survey puts the median at $809,000 and the average at $1,240,000. A small number of very wealthy households drag the average up, while the median — the household exactly in the middle — is untouched by them. If you want to know what is typical, use the median.

My net worth rose but my percentile fell. How?

You crossed into an older age band, and the thresholds jump when you do. The median for young households is $238,000; for middle-aged households it is $809,000. Turning 41 re-ranks you against people with more years of earning and repayments behind them, so an unchanged balance sheet places lower.

General information only, not financial advice. Figures are estimates based on the inputs and assumptions above and don't account for your personal circumstances. Confirm anything important with the relevant authority or a licensed adviser.