Net Worth for Gen X: Are You Poor, Middle Class, Upper Middle Class or Rich?

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As a generational cohort, annual incomes among Gen X in the United States are all over the map, especially when compared to the older baby boomers or the younger generations of millennials and Gen Z. The gap between wealthy and poor Gen Xers (those born from 1965 to 1980) throughout American households shows quite the discrepancy in savings account levels, credit card debt and work-life balance.

What doesset Gen X apart, aside from possibly being the last people to benefit from Social Security, is the gap between how much they want to save and how much they have saved. That gap lays out stark differences in their income levels — let’s explore further below.

Can Middle-Class Gen Xers Afford To Retire?

With Gen X next up on the retirement chopping block, many non-retired Gen Xers and financial experts alike believe it will take between $1 and $1.5 million in savings to retire comfortably. This is unfortunate as the average savings for someone of this generation is only $150,000. 

Gen X, seemingly more so than baby boomers and millennials, has been forced to contend with skyrocketing costs of living, expensive education attainment and even upper-income households living paycheck to paycheck. For those living in a middle-class household with only about 10% of the recommended savings in the bank, this could mean severe delays in retirement planning or a huge downshift in lifestyle expectations.

It’s not that all Gen Xers are struggling to meet their savings goals. The median net worth of Americans between the ages of 45 and 54 is $247,000, according to Federal Reserve data. Those between the ages of 55 and 64 have a median net worth of $364,000. One thing those figures tell you is that a lot of Gen Xers are worth much more than the median and a lot are worth much less.

To get an idea of the typical earnings for a Gen Xer, a good place to start is the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Here is what the BLS’s latest report found:

• The median weekly earnings for all 119.2 million full-time wage and salary workers in the U.S. were $1,139 in 2024, or $59,228 a year.
• The median weekly earnings for men ages 45 to 54 were $1,442 a week or $79,984 a year.
• The median weekly earnings for women ages 45 to 54 were $1,156 a week or $60,112 a year.

If you are a Gen Xer and your annual income ranges between about $60,000 and $80,000, you’re probably somewhere in the middle-income category of American society.

Lower Income vs. Upper Middle-Income Tiers: How Rich Are You?

Defining “upper-middle class” is a little trickier because there is no set measurement everyone agrees on. As USA Today reported, the upper-middle class is often defined as the top 15% to 20% of earners. However, some financial experts say those percentages should be lower.

Whether you have lived in middle-income households or consider yourself part of the American upper-middle class, your social class may not get you as far as you think. Here are some income estimates from the Pew Research Center:

• Lower class: Incomes at or below $30,000
• Lower-middle class: Incomes between $30,001 and $58,020
• Middle class: Incomes between $58,021 and $94,000
• Upper-middle class: Incomes between $94,001 and $153,000
• Upper class: Incomes greater than $153,000
• Top 1%: Incomes of at least $600,000

Those categories do a good job of giving you a general idea of where Gen X and others fall on the income scale, but they don’t capture what it means to be “poor” or “rich.” Earning $30,000 a year makes you poor in some areas and lower-middle in others. Similarly, earning $153,000 a year does not really make you “rich,” no matter where you live.

The U.S. federal poverty level for 2025 can also be a good range of where your income will land you in the long term. Here are some estimates: 

• 1-person household: $15,650
• 2-person household: $21,150
• 3-person household: $26,650
• 4-person household: $32,150
• Each additional person after eight: Add $5,500

As for being rich, it depends on where you live. As GOBankingRates last reported, the income needed to be in the top 5% of earners ranges from a low of $308,523 a year in Mississippi to a high of $562,886 a year in New Jersey. Again, these figures apply to all generations, including Gen X.

Final Take To GO

The bottom line is that, unlike for previous generations like boomers or even the silent generation, simple ingredients of the American dream such as affordable higher levels of education and real estate, along with retiring at a reasonable age, seem to now be allusive for Gen X. They are the first wave in the attack against the middle class.

Each generation has its own relationship with money and it seems to present like the following: 

• Boomers: It’s all about the money. 
• Gen X: Is it all about the money?
• Millennials: Where is the money?
• Gen Z: What is money?

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