Average IRA Balance by Age in 2026: How Do You Compare?

The average IRA balance varies widely by age and account type, and the numbers come from IRS Division of Revenue Statisticswhich annually publishes data on every IRA account reported on U.S. tax returns. The latest full data set, released in June, covers the 2023 tax year. It is taken from matching Forms 1040, 5498 and 1099-R filings and covers more than 71 million IRA account holders.

Unlike survey estimates, these numbers come from actual tax records. What they don’t include: medians. Each balance sheet figure below is an average, average. This distinction is important, and this work examines it directly before making any comparisons.

Top numbers: The average traditional IRA balance for all ages is $225,413. The average Roth IRA balance is $57,450. Both have a context that determines their value as benchmarks.

What is an average IRA balance?

The average IRA balance depends on the type of account. Traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs accumulate assets in different ways, so one combined number hides more than it reveals.

Source: IRS Division of Income Statistics, Schedule 8, Tax Year 2023.

The traditional mean is nearly four times higher than Roth’s. Rollovers account for much of this: large 401(k) and retirement balances that roll into traditional IRAs when people change jobs or retire. The table below by age shows how this affects careers.

How does the average IRA balance change with age?

The average traditional IRA balance increases from $9,315 at ages 20 to 24 to $357,902 at ages 65 to 69. Roth balances rise more gradually, from $7,242 to $90,028 over the same period.

Source: IRS Division of Income Statistics, Schedule 8, Tax Year 2023. Figures represent average balances per account holder.

Between ages 30 and 34, the two accounts are close: $19,079 traditional, $20,964 Roth. The mouth protrudes forward. From 45 to 49, traditional advanced significantly: $106,831 versus $46,131. By age 60-64, the spread reaches $289,052 versus $72,027.

Krivaya Rota is built year after year. The traditional curve is accelerating. The reason is specific and is addressed in the next section.

One note about the traditional 70+ number is that it is slightly lower than the 65 to 69 number. Minimum distributions required begin at age 73, which begins to reduce the balance for the oldest taxpayers in this group.

Why traditional IRA balances increase after age 55

Traditional IRA acceleration that begins in the late 50s has a specific source: the inflow of funds from employer-sponsored retirement plans.

In 2023, 5.86 million taxpayers rolled money into an IRA from employer plans. These transfers totaled $682 billion. New contributions to all types of IRAs combined totaled $89 billion that year. Transfers exceeded the amount of contributions by 7.7 times. Average one-time rollover: $116,500.

Roth IRAs receive a fraction of that amount. In 2023, Roth inflows were $24 billion, compared to the traditional $653 billion. Most employer plan balances are transferred to traditional accounts by default. This concentrates the surge in these bills over the decades when job changes and retirements peak.

Consider the scale. 58 years old rolling a $300,000 401(k) into a traditional IRA adds more to the account in one transaction than 20 years of Roth contributions. A Roth account is compounded year after year. A traditional account can be dramatically activated.

The Boldin Planner lets you model your IRA along with Social Security, expense, and tax projections to see how the pieces fit together.

What percentage of people contribute to IRAs?

In 2023, fewer than 1 in 10 US tax filers contributed to any IRA. The participation rate in all taxpayers was 8.2%.

Source: IRS Division of Income Statistics, Schedule 4, Tax Year 2023.

The contribution is about 10% during the 30-year stretch of the years of the highest salary and does not exceed it. Commitment is high among people who do contribute, with roughly 45% to 49% of traditional IRA participants between the ages of 30 and 64 contributing the full annual maximum. The same goes for Roth. People who start tend to stay. The problem is that most people don’t start.

For 2026, the contribution limit is $7,500. Contributors age 50 and older can add $1,100, bringing their total to $8,600. These restrictions are important for the roughly 10% who are already contributing. For the remaining 90%, the ceiling is not an obstacle.

Roth has more participants than traditional at every age up to age 55

In every age group under 55, more taxpayers contributed to Roth IRAs than to traditional IRAs in 2023.

Among taxpayers ages 20 to 24, Roth savers outnumbered traditional savers 12 to 1: 939,021 Roth versus 77,843 traditional. In the 25 to 29 group, the ratio was 5.4 to 1. They taper into the 40s, reach near parity in the late 50s, and reverse to traditional at age 65 and older.

The change at age 65 and older reflects the structure of the account. Older savers are more likely to hold rollover-funded traditional IRAs, and some are still contributing to them after retirement. Roth participation is falling among older groups in part because income limits are being phased out at the higher salary levels that older workers are more likely to reach during their peak wage years.

The Bigger Picture: Younger savers are choosing Roth by a wide margin. IRAs’ traditional leadership in total assets stems from the scale of the balance rollover. Among people who write a check to their IRA every year, Roth wins by the late 50s.

How These IRA Averages Can Mislead You

These numbers are higher than most IRA owners because a small number of very large accounts inflate the average.

The IRS doesn’t publish the average IRA balance, so two other sources help fill in the picture. The Investment Company Institute (ICI) surveyed 3,214 households with IRAs in mid-2025 and found that the combined average was $100,000. A Congressional Research Service analysis of Federal Reserve data found that the median IRA balance was $87,000 among IRA-owning households, compared to a median of $309,130.

Because survey data and tax records measure different populations, neither figure is directly comparable to the IRS average. What they really show is the same pattern: the average balance is well below the average, meaning that a small number of large accounts are pulling the average up.

What this creates: Someone with $2 million funded in a traditional IRA is in the same data set as someone with $15,000 in accumulated contributions. The average reflects both. The $15,000 man is much more common.

What an IRA test can and cannot tell you

None of this makes the test useless. It shows where the filing population will be distributed, and whether it will put your retirement balance on solid ground depends on what you plan to spend when you stop working. if you claim Social Securityand how taxes are played out for years of withdrawal.

It is important to know the balance in the right range for your age. By itself, it says little about what retirement looks like.

If your IRA balance is lower than you’d like, focus on what your retirement income picture calls for, not the distance to the average. The Boldin Planner models your IRA along with Social Security, spending and tax projections so you can see your retirement using your own numbers, not someone else’s benchmark.

Frequently asked questions about average IRA balances by age