Homeowners Are Worth $458,900. Renters Are Worth $10,600. The Fed’s New Data Is Brutal
The Federal Reserve just updated its wealth survey, and the gap between homeowners and renters has grown into something harder to explain away as a matter of income or luck.
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If you own your home, the typical family in your position has a median net worth of $458,900, according to the Federal Reserve’s 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances. If you rent, the typical figure is $10,600. The two groups also moved in opposite directions. Homeowners’ median net worth grew 6% between the 2022 and 2025 surveys. Renters’ median net worth fell 7% over the same period.
The Fed released the survey in October 2026, and the report states that its net worth figures are inflation-adjusted and expressed in 2025 dollars. That means the renter drop is a real loss of purchasing power, and the homeowner gain is real growth. Rising prices alone do not explain either one.
Why Averages Make Both Groups Look Richer Than Your Neighbors
Mean net worth for homeowners reached $1,812,900, up 8%. For renters, the mean was $153,500, down 9%.
The gap between mean and median comes down to how each is calculated. The median is the family in the exact middle: half have more, half have less. The mean adds up everyone’s wealth and divides by the number of families. Put one billionaire in a room of 100 ordinary renters and the mean jumps by millions.
The median barely moves, because the person in the middle is still an ordinary renter. A renter mean of $153,500 sitting next to a median of $10,600 tells you a small group of rich renters (people in pricey city apartments with large investments, for example) drives the average far above what most renters have. If you want to compare yourself to a typical household, use the median.
Home Equity Is Doing the Heavy Lifting
The main driver of the gap is home equity. The Fed defines net housing value as a home’s value minus mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit. For owners of a primary residence, the median net housing value rose 5% to $230,000.
For many of these families, that equity built up gradually. Each mortgage payment paid down part of the loan, and home values did the rest. The house worked as an automatic savings account. Renters have no equivalent. Rent covers housing costs, and none of it turns into an asset.
The report also points to a slowdown. Median and mean net housing wealth grew at average rates of 26% and 19% between the three surveys before 2025. Owners are still drives ahead, just more slowly than before.
Income explains part of the gap too. Owners had a median family income of $108,900, compared with $50,300 for renters. Higher earners find it easier to buy, and once they own, their equity builds on top of that higher income.
Why Renters Struggle to Make the Jump to Owning
The homeownership rate was 66% in 2025. For renters hoping to join that group, the Fed’s affordability measure looks discouraging. The median home was worth more than 4.5 times median family income, about flat from the previous high in 2022. The ratio bottomed out at 3.5 in 2016.
A higher ratio means a down payment takes more years of saving, while home prices keep rising and equity keeps building for people who already own. The Fed spells out that tradeoff: rising home values help existing owners but can make houses unaffordable for would-be buyers.
Where Do You Stand Against These Medians?
To calculate your net worth, add up everything you own (savings, retirement accounts, home value, vehicles) and subtract everything you owe. Then compare the result with these 2025 medians:
- All families: $215,900
- Homeowners: $458,900
- Renters or other non-homeowners: $10,600
- Families with a reference person under 35: $33,000
- Families with a reference person ages 55 to 64: $411,900
Many renters are young, and the under-35 median is low for owners and renters alike. A 28-year-old renter with $15,000 saved is ahead of the typical renter. A 60-year-old renter with the same amount is far behind the typical family their age.
What This Gap Means for Your Next Move
The data shows that having a home gave families a built-in savings habit, and rising values made that habit pay off. Renters can copy the habit even if they can’t buy yet. Set up an automatic transfer into a retirement account or investment account on payday so saving happens without a decision each month, the way a mortgage payment does.
If buying is your goal, the 4.5 ratio is a useful reality check. Compare what homes cost in your area with your household income. If local prices are well above 4.5 times what you earn, expect a longer path to a down payment and plan your savings around that schedule.
The survey shows that between 2022 and 2025, the typical owner’s wealth grew and the typical renter’s wealth fell after inflation. For most renters, building wealth outside of home equity remains a central priority.
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Jake has been been working in financial media for almost 15 years. He focuses on all things personal finance for 24/7 Wall St. with high hopes to educate and entertain. Most recently, Jake spent 12 years working various roles at The Motley Fool. He started copy editing fool.com content, worked on premium and marketing campaigns, and helped launch The Ascent, a personal finance brand.
His work has been featured on platforms like MSN, Yahoo Finance, USA Today, and more. He's written about credit cards, social security, ETFs, savings accounts, and just about anything else you can imagine when thinking about money. Jake love to cook, play golf, and tell people he's never had a cavity. (It's true!)
