A million dollars has long been considered the standard goal for retirement in the United States.
Most people assume it is what most workers end up with after decades on the job.
The truth looks very different once you check the actual data. Most Americans retire with far less, and only a small share ever reaches the million-dollar mark.
In the following sections, I will show you exactly how many people in the United States end up with one million dollars when they retire.
Highlights
• Only about 4.6 percent of all US households hold one million dollars or more inside retirement accounts.
• Americans now estimate they will need about $1.26 million to retire comfortably. According to the Northwestern Mutual Planning & Progress Study, the average person’s target for a “comfortable” retirement has climbed above $1.2 million.
• Average 401(k) contribution rates reached the highest level we have ever recorded. Fidelity’s retirement update reported record contribution rates into 401(k) plans, as more workers increased how much they put aside for retirement.
• The gap between what Americans think they need and what they actually have remains wide. Analysts who reviewed these reports note that many households still approach retirement with balances far below the $1 million, despite higher contribution rates and rising goals.
Here Is What the Latest Data Shows
The most reliable source for retirement account totals is the Survey of Consumer Finances conducted by the Federal Reserve.
According to the latest results, only about 4.6 percent of all households hold one million dollars or more inside retirement accounts.
Among people age 55 to 64, the share rises to about 9.2 percent. When you look at total net worth instead of just retirement accounts, the share climbs to around 12 percent, based on a recent review of the same federal data.
Researchers who study long-term savings patterns point out that the numbers shift sharply as households move through different stages of life.
For example, people in their early forties often hold modest balances because higher wages, peak earning years, and steady contributions usually come later.
By the time households reach their late fifties, the gap between high earners and the wider public becomes far more visible.
The top quartile of late-career households often holds several times more than the national median, which helps explain why the million-dollar group remains so small.
Wealth Gaps Widen Sharply With Age
Workers who stay in jobs with stable contribution plans for long periods tend to build far stronger balances.
In contrast, people who move through part-time work or jobs without retirement benefits rarely gain the compounding needed to get close to one million dollars. This trend appears across regions and income levels.
A separate look at retirement savings habits shows that contributions rise slowly with age. Many households begin saving seriously only in their thirties or forties, which gives their money less time to grow.
Small but regular deposits in the first ten years of work often create more long-term growth than larger deposits made near the end of a career.
Another pattern in the federal data relates to debt. Households that enter their fifties with mortgages, student loans, or high-interest credit balances tend to save far less.
As a result, the chance of reaching one million dollars falls sharply when debt consumes a large part of the monthly income.
Education Strongly Predicts Financial Security in Retirement
Households led by college graduates are far more likely to reach higher retirement balances. This connects to long-term income trends, access to stronger employer plans, and more consistent saving behavior.
Many experts view this as one of the strongest predictors of whether a household will approach the one-million-dollar level by retirement.
How Many People Have One Million Dollars in the US? State-by-State Comparison
There is no official state-by-state breakdown for how many households hold one million dollars specifically inside retirement accounts, because the federal survey that tracks those balances does not report results at the state level. The sample size is too small for that kind of detail.
What we do have, however, is a clear picture of how many households in each state hold a total net worth of at least one million dollars, including home equity, savings, investments, and retirement plans. This gives us a useful way to see where wealth tends to cluster and how widely it varies across the country.
Some of the largest states, like California and Texas, have the highest number of millionaire households simply because they have more people. Smaller states with higher incomes, like New Jersey and Massachusetts, show some of the highest concentrations of million-dollar households in the entire country.
States with lower median incomes generally land much lower on the list.
Millionaire Households by State
The following table shows each state and the number of households with a net worth of one million dollars or more.
| State | Households With $1M Net Worth | Percent of Households |
|---|---|---|
| California | 1,147,251 | 8.51% |
| Texas | 650,216 | 6.32% |
| New York | 570,456 | 7.52% |
| Florida | 496,971 | 5.87% |
| Illinois | 346,873 | 7.13% |
| Pennsylvania | 328,859 | 6.44% |
| New Jersey | 323,443 | 9.76% |
| Virginia | 272,103 | 8.31% |
| Ohio | 261,157 | 5.54% |
| Massachusetts | 254,201 | 9.38% |
| Georgia | 239,287 | 6.07% |
| Michigan | 236,858 | 5.97% |
| Washington | 233,155 | 7.85% |
| North Carolina | 224,054 | 5.45% |
| Maryland | 221,189 | 9.72% |
| Colorado | 170,223 | 7.48% |
| Minnesota | 167,206 | 7.43% |
| Arizona | 161,014 | 6.03% |
| Tennessee | 139,335 | 5.21% |
| Indiana | 138,739 | 5.34% |
| Wisconsin | 138,283 | 5.83% |
| Missouri | 132,176 | 5.39% |
| Connecticut | 130,291 | 9.44% |
| Oregon | 108,858 | 6.43% |
| South Carolina | 108,812 | 5.40% |
| Alabama | 94,259 | 4.87% |
| Louisiana | 87,565 | 4.81% |
| Kentucky | 83,624 | 4.69% |
| Oklahoma | 75,567 | 4.90% |
| Iowa | 73,129 | 5.71% |
| Utah | 71,613 | 7.05% |
| Kansas | 66,406 | 5.81% |
| Nevada | 63,752 | 5.61% |
| Arkansas | 51,532 | 4.33% |
| Mississippi | 47,279 | 4.18% |
| New Hampshire | 45,758 | 8.47% |
| Nebraska | 45,130 | 5.86% |
| Hawaii | 44,383 | 9.20% |
| New Mexico | 40,450 | 4.97% |
| Idaho | 33,656 | 5.14% |
| Maine | 31,993 | 5.60% |
| West Virginia | 31,535 | 4.21% |
| District of Columbia | 29,506 | 9.12% |
| Rhode Island | 28,165 | 6.69% |
| Delaware | 25,937 | 6.98% |
| Montana | 23,785 | 5.28% |
| Alaska | 22,302 | 8.18% |
| North Dakota | 20,002 | 6.16% |
| South Dakota | 18,905 | 5.33% |
| Vermont | 16,411 | 6.29% |
| Wyoming | 12,849 | 5.45% |
Source: Statista
Final Thoughts
Reaching one million dollars by retirement is far less common than many people assume, and the numbers make that clear.
Most households end up with much smaller balances, shaped by income, debt, and the ups and downs that happen over a lifetime.
The state-by-state breakdown also shows how uneven wealth is across the country, with only a few places seeing higher concentrations of million-dollar households.
Even so, steady saving, lower debt, and good workplace benefits can make a big difference over time.
No matter where someone starts, small, consistent steps are still the strongest path forward.
