Ever wonder how your nest egg fares in comparison to your neighbors’?
From state to state, the median amount — half fall above, half below — that retirement savers have earmarked for their golden years ranges from about $83,500 in Mississippi to $177,500 in Washington, according to research from personal finance website Personal Capital.
The company looked at anonymized data from its 2.8 million users, aggregating each person’s retirement accounts they link to through the site, whether managed by Personal Capital or other retirement account providers (i.e., Fidelity Investments, Vanguard, Schwab).
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First, here’s the generational breakdown of account balances revealed in the research. (Note that for the average amounts — vs. median — large account balances skew the data higher).
Retirement savings by age
| Age Group | Average Retirement Balance | Median Retirement Balance |
|---|---|---|
| Gen Z | $35,197 | $10,904 |
| Millennials | $166,430 | $71,485 |
| Gen X | $568,750 | $290,807 |
| Baby Boomers | $1,029,840 | $570,789 |
| Other/No Age Data | $277,151 | $63,210 |
As with age, the averages by state also generally are much higher than the median.
For instance, Connecticut’s average retirement savings of about $523,600 — ranking it first among the states — compares to its median of $160,300. New Hampshire’s average retirement savings comes in second at $494,600, while its median is $159,300.
Meanwhile, Utah had the lowest average — $300,400 — and its median of $90,800 was second-lowest (behind Mississippi).
Of course, a number of factors can influence any individual’s ability to save for retirement, the research notes. Whether due to a high cost of living, a larger tax burden, lower wages or any other hurdle, competing financial priorities or obligations can interfere with putting away money for your post-working years.
Additionally, depending on what state you plan to retire in, your savings could potentially go further.
Some states have no income tax, or may exclude Social Security benefits from taxation. Or, there may be other retirement income that’s not taxed. For instance, in addition to not taxing Social Security income, New Hampshire also excludes pensions and distributions from retirement accounts.