What the official data says at 40
The most reliable picture of British wealth comes from the ONS Wealth and Assets Survey (April 2020 to March 2022 round). For households whose head is aged 35 to 44 — the band that covers age 40 — the median household net worth is £209,600. That is below the median for all GB households (£293,700) and 42% of the peak-age band, 65 to 74, at £502,500.
Two caveats before you compare yourself. These are household figures — couples pool assets, so a single person should expect a lower number. And the ONS has suspended accreditation of this survey from the 2020–22 round while it works on response-rate quality, so treat the figures as the best available official estimate rather than gospel.
| Age of household head | Median household net worth |
|---|---|
| 16 to 24 | £15,200 |
| 25 to 34 | £109,800 |
| 35 to 44 | £209,600 |
| 45 to 54 | £301,900 |
| 55 to 64 | £496,500 |
| 65 to 74 | £502,500 |
Source: ONS Wealth and Assets Survey, April 2020 to March 2022. Median across all GB households: £293,700.
Halfway to retirement: the view from 40
Forty is the midpoint of the ONS 35 to 44 band (median £209,600) and, for most people, roughly the halfway point of a working life. It is a natural moment for an audit: add up property equity, every pension pot from every old job, ISAs and cash, then subtract debts. Many people find forgotten workplace pensions from their twenties — the government's Pension Tracing Service finds them for free.
Forty is also when higher-rate tax starts to bite for many. Above £50,270 each extra £1 loses 40p tax plus 2p NI — a 42% marginal rate — which makes salary sacrifice unusually powerful: £100 into the pension costs only £58 of take-home. If your pay has crossed that line, shifting bonus or pay-rise money into the pension rather than the current account is the single most tax-efficient net-worth move available at this age.
Median vs mean: why "average" is slippery
Every figure on this page is a median — the middle household if you line everyone up. The ONS uses the median as its headline measure precisely because wealth is so heavily right-skewed: a small number of very wealthy households drag the mean far above the median, so mean ("average") figures quoted in the press can be double the median or more. The ONS publishes mean estimates in its downloadable datasets, but if you want to know what the typical household at 40 has, the median is the honest number.
What counts as net worth
The ONS definition is total household wealth minus debts, built from four components: net property wealth (your home's value minus the mortgage — 40% of all GB household wealth), private pension wealth (35%), net financial wealth (savings and investments minus loans and card debt — 14%) and physical wealth (cars, contents and other possessions — 10%). Note how dominant pensions and property are: most British wealth is not money you can spend this month.
Growing your net worth at 40
A practical 40th-birthday checklist: trace old pensions, consolidate where fees are high, check your National Insurance record for state pension gaps (voluntary top-ups are cheap relative to what they buy), and set pension contributions as a percentage of salary so they scale automatically. Income benchmark: average salary at 40.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average net worth at 40 in the UK?
The ONS Wealth and Assets Survey (April 2020 to March 2022) puts median household net worth at £209,600 for households whose head is aged 35 to 44 — the band covering age 40. The median across all GB households is £293,700. These are household figures, not per person, and include pensions and property.
Does net worth include pensions and property?
Yes. The ONS measure counts net property wealth (40% of GB household wealth), private pension wealth (35%), net financial wealth (14%) and physical wealth (10%), minus debts such as mortgages and loans.
Why is the mean net worth higher than the median?
Wealth is heavily right-skewed: a small number of very wealthy households pull the mean far above the median. The ONS uses the median as its headline measure because it describes the typical household; 'average' figures quoted elsewhere are often means and look much larger.
Am I behind if my net worth is below average at 40?
Not necessarily. The £209,600 figure is a household median for the whole 35 to 44 band and includes property equity and pensions many people undercount. Tracing old workplace pensions and valuing home equity properly often narrows the apparent gap.
Work out the income side of the equation
Salary calculator →