Net Worth for Gen X: How To Tell If You’re Poor, Middle-Class, Upper Middle-Class or Rich

07/05/2024

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As with any age cohort, annual incomes among Gen Xers are all over the map. The gap between wealthy and poor Gen Xers (those born from 1965 to 1980) is not that different from other generations. What does set Gen X apart, though, is the gap between how much they want to save and how much they actually have saved — and how that gap lays out stark differences various income levels.

Check Out: 6 Reasons the Poor Stay Poor and Middle Class Doesn’t Become Wealthy

According to the Schroders 2023 U.S. Retirement Survey, non-retired Gen Xers believe it will take just more than $1.11 million in savings to retire comfortably. Yet they expect to have only $661,013 saved. That gap of $451,170 is higher than the gaps reported by both millennials and baby boomers. More than six in 10 (61%) non-retired Gen Xers are not confident in their ability to achieve a “dream retirement,” according to Schroders.

A separate 2023 survey from MassMutual found that more than half (53%) of Gen Xers say they are behind where they need to be to retire at their ideal retirement age.

It’s not that all Gen Xers are struggling to meet their savings goals. The median net worth of Americans between ages 45 and 54 is $247,000, according to a report from Motley Fool that cited Federal Reserve data. Those between ages 55 and 64 have a median net worth of $364,000. One thing those figures tell you is that a lot of Gen Xers are worth much more than the median and a lot are worth much less.

To get an idea of the typical earnings for a Gen Xer, a good place to start is U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Here is what the BLS’s latest report, released on April 16, found:

The median weekly earnings for all 119.2 million full-time wage and salary workers in the U.S. were $1,139 in the first quarter of 2024, or $59,228 a year.
The median weekly earnings for men ages 45 to 54 were $1,442 a week or $79,984 a year.
The median weekly earnings for women ages 45 to 54 were $1,156 a week or $60,112 a year.

If you are a Gen Xer and your annual income ranges between about $60,000 and $80,000, you’re probably somewhere in the middle income category.

Defining “upper middle class” is a little trickier because there is no set measurement everyone agrees on. As USA Today reported, the upper middle class is often defined as the top 15% to 20% of earners. However, some financial experts say those percentages should be lower.

Earlier this year, AP Moneywise shared 2022 U.S. Census Bureau data showing these yearly incomes for different class levels:

Lower: less than or equal to $30,000.
Lower middle: $30,001-$58,020.
Middle: $58,021-$94,000.
Upper-middle: $94,001-$153,000.
Upper: greater than $153,000.

Those categories do a good job of giving you a general idea of where Gen X and others fall on the income scale, but they don’t really capture what it means to be “poor” or “rich.” Earning $30,000 a year makes you poor in some areas and lower-middle in others. Similarly, earning $153,000 a year does not really make you “rich” no matter where you live.

A chart from Healthcare.gov $15,060 found that the U.S. federal poverty level for 2024 ranges from an income of $15,060 a year for individuals to $52,720 a year for a family of eight. For a family of two, the yearly income threshold is $20,440 a year. For a family of four, the threshold is $31,200 a year. Because poverty does not care how old you are, those numbers apply to Gen X as well.

Learn More: How Much Does the Average Middle-Class Person Have in Savings?

As for being rich: It depends on where you live. As GOBankingRates recently reported, the income needed to be in the top 5% of earners ranges from a low of $308,523 a year in Mississippi to a high of $562,886 a year in New Jersey. Again, these figures apply to all generations, including Gen X.

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