More than half of U.S. households had retirement accounts in a just-released study by the Congressional Research Service.

That’s 54%, to be exact, according to the CRS in “Distribution of Retirement Account Balances: Analysis of the 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances,” released on Feb. 26, 2025. The CRS defines “retirement account” for purposes of this study as defined contribution (DC) plans and individual retirement accounts (IRAs). It recognizes, however, that U.S. households have other sources of income during retirement as well, such as Social Security, defined benefit (DB) plans, housing equity, and other savings.

The report provides data on the distribution of retirement account balances in 2022 among all U.S. households, and also provides information about retirement account ownership by households based on age group. The CRS says that in releasing the data, it seeks to inform Congress as it considers legislation that could affect retirement accounts, and as it ponders whether and how to promote saving through such accounts.

The Results

In 2022, says the CRS, 54.3% of U.S. households, had retirement account assets. Of those:

• • approximately 30% had retirement account assets of $100,000 or less;
  • 15.5% had assets of between $100,001 and $500,000;
  • 4.7% had assets of between $500,001 and $1 million; and
  • 4.6% had assets greater than $1 million.

According to “Ownership of Retirement Accounts in 2022: Amounts in Defined Contribution Plans and Individual Retirement Accounts,” — another CRS report — among U.S. households that had savings in DC accounts or IRAs in 2022, the median balance was $87,000, and the average balance was $334,097.

In that study, the CRS further found that ownership rates and balances among households with accounts increased with household income, net worth, and education level. For example, 91.1% of households with income of $150,000 or more had savings in DC accounts or IRAs, while just 13.2% of households with income of less than $30,000 did.

By age group. The CRS reports that in 2022, the following percentages of households in each age group had retirement assets:

• • 49.6% of those younger than 35,
  • 61.5% of those ages 35-44,
  • 62.2% of those ages 45-54,
  • 57% of those ages 55-64, and
  • 47% of those age 65 and older.

Millionaires. The report shows that in each age group in 2022, less than 10% of households had retirement assets of more than $1 million. The age group in which there were the most was 55-64 years of age; 9.2% of its households had retirement assets of $1 million or more.

The oldest households. Interestingly, the CRS found that in 2022, households age 65 and older had lower rates of retirement account ownership than other age groups.

The CRS says there are two possible explanations for that finding:

1. 1. Households 65 and older are more likely to have had access to DB plans rather than DC plans during their careers. They say that 45.2% of those households expected to receive income from DB plans from past jobs, or had DB plans at their current jobs. That outstrips their younger counterparts: 35.3% of households ages 55-64 and 24.2% of those under age 55 told the CRS that they expect to have pension income during retirement.
   2. Households age 65 and older include those still working as well as those that have been out of the workforce for decades. It is possible, says the CRS, that some of those households may have had retirement savings earlier but exhausted them.

The CRS adds that Social Security payments are the most common source of income for households ages 65 and older.

Finding out More

“Distribution of Retirement Account Balances: Analysis of the 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances” is available here.

“Ownership of Retirement Accounts in 2022: Amounts in Defined Contribution Plans and Individual Retirement Accounts” is available here.

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