Younger generations made significant wealth gains in 2024. Gen Z and Millennial wealth grew by a combined 17.33% in 2024, compared to 4.62% for older generations (Gen X and Baby Boomers), according to data from Empower Personal Dashboard^TM.

The average net worth for Millennials hit $333,096, a 12.74% increase. In 2024, the average net worth for Americans overall increased nearly 10% (9.69%) to $628,918.

• Gen Z’s net worth increased by 21.92% in 2024 ($71,312 in Dec 2023 vs $86,945 in Dec 2024)
• Millennial's net worth increased by 12.74% in 2024 ($295,456 in Dec 2023 vs $333,096 in Dec 2024)
• Gen X’s net worth increased by 6.50% in 2024 ($1,062,192 in Dec 2023 vs $1,132,089 in Dec 2024)
• Boomer’s net worth increased by 2.74% in 2024 ($1,638,670 in Dec 2023 vs $1,683,641 in Dec 2024) 

As younger generations enter and make their way through the workforce, these figures build on the trend seen in prior years. According to the Federal Reserve Board’s Survey of Consumer Finances, those born in the 1990s — younger millennials and older Gen Zers — median wealth more than quadrupled to $41,000 over the three-year period between 2019 and 2022.¹  

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

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

All is not what it seems

While Americans under the age of 40 are increasing their wealth — 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 versus previous generations. Younger generations have faced with an array of financial challenges including high interest rates, expensive housing and education, healthcare costs, and childcare affordability.