Millennials managed to grow their wealth more than any other generation in 2024, according to Empower Personal Dashboard^TM data. The cohort increased their overall net worth by 13.7% (versus 7.7% for all Americans) and their 401(k) balance by 15.6% (almost double that of the typical American).

Millennial net worth tells a different story versus all Americans

Monthly percentage difference in average net worth versus January 1, 2024.*

Before the pandemic, Millennials appeared to be falling behind in wealth accumulation — but the tables have turned. Millennials and older members of Gen Z are now 25% wealthier than previous generations were at their age. Millennials in their early 30s saw their median wealth quadruple from 2019 to 2022, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.¹

Empower Personal Dashboard data reveals Millennial net worth outpaced intergenerational growth by 6% through 2024. The starkest difference in growth came in comparing Millennials to Boomers, who grew their net worth by 3.8%. Given that many Boomers are approaching or in retirement, it's possible they're spending more of their assets rather than focusing on accumulation. Meanwhile, Gen X and Gen Z made greater gains, with 8.8% and 9.5% increases respectively.

What’s driving Millennials’ wealth growth?

All told, Millennials had accumulated $15.25 trillion as of the second quarter of 2024. That’s up significantly from $3.93 trillion just five years earlier.²

For Millennials who fared best (particularly during the pandemic years), much of that increase was the result of the right combination of timing, circumstance, and early investing — from taking advantage of low mortgage rates and investing early in a 401(k) to carrying little or no student debt and increasing savings.³

The wealthiest 10% of Millennial households in 2022 saw a 140% increase over the wealth their Boomer peers had in 1992. Those in the middle saw a 77% increase. But the poorest 10% of households came out behind their Boomer peers, according to Barron’s analysis.⁴

In the past several years, home equity has emerged as the greatest driver of wealth accumulation, with homeowners gaining nearly $150,000 in home equity since 2019 — or about $30,000 per year. Through the same period, home prices surged 41%, making it the best three-year period on record.⁵

Read more: Homeowners reach record high of $35 trillion in equity

Stocks and mutual funds have also played a large role in helping increase the net worth of Millennials, who typically started investing at an average age of 25 versus 35 for Boomers.⁶ In recent years, 401(k) plans and brokerage accounts benefited from a booming stock market. The S&P 500® is up 23% this year to date; while in the past five years, it delivered an annualized return of 12.85%.⁷

Covid-era restrictions and assistance, like child-care tax credits and stimulus checks, also helped Americans save at unprecedented speed. The Federal Reserve estimates that U.S. households accumulated about $2.3 trillion in savings in 2020 and through the summer of 2021, above and beyond what they would have saved if income and spending components had grown at recent, pre-pandemic trends.⁸

Millennial millionaires

Empower research shows that Millennials say they’d need to make at least $180,865 a year and reach a net worth of $5,638,205 to be “financially successful.” As of December 2024, 2.7% of Millennials have reached retirement millionaire status, with retirement accounts of more than $1 million averaging $1.74 million. The number of Millennial retirement millionaires is up from 2% in December 2023.

While Empower data shows Millennials wrapped 2024 with an average net worth of $333,096, Millennial millionaires are approaching the $3 million mark, with an average net worth of $2,974,112. The cohort may be a way off from their desired net worth of $5.6 million, but 70% say they believe they’ll achieve financial success in their lifetime.

Read more: Becoming the 401(k) millionaire next door

All is not what it seems

Americans under the age of 40 are richer than ever — but they still feel "an increasing sense of economic fragility," per new research from the Treasury Department.⁹

More than any other generation, Millennials say financial success is much harder for them to achieve vs. previous generations. Though wealthier than ever before, the generation is also faced with an array of financial challenges including high interest rates, expensive housing and education, healthcare costs, and childcare affordability issues. And with the majority of Millennials’ cash tied up in home equity or retirement accounts, young Americans may find that the relative illiquidity of their money makes them feel less wealthy than they are on paper.