Women tend to put more of their pay into retirement accounts, Vanguard says.
Credit: Patricio Nahuelhual / Getty Images Key Takeaways
Higher earners hold more in their 401(k)s, but don’t always save a bigger share of their pay.
Vanguard says savings rates are a better indicator of retirement preparation than account balances.
Workers with the highest 401(k) balances aren’t always the best savers.
Bigger paychecks build bigger 401(k) balances, but not necessarily from higher savings rates, according to Vanguard’s annual “How America Saves” report. Gender complicates the picture, too: women typically sock away more of their paychecks but hold less in their 401(k)s than their male counterparts.
Why This News Matters
Retirement account balances don’t present a comprehensive picture of Americans’ assets, given that many own homes and have multiple 401(k) plans. Still, they are a key support for Americans’ retirements.
The spread among balances according to income is dramatic. The typical worker earning under $15,000 had about $3,490 saved in 2025; the typical worker making $150,000 or more had $230,540, about 66 times as much. Averages run even higher—$19,600 at the bottom, $401,410 at the top—because a handful of very large accounts pull them up.
The balance gap makes sense: the same contribution rate yields more dollars set aside as paychecks grow. A 6% rate on $30,000 is $1,800 a year; on $150,000, it’s $9,000. Higher earners also have more left over after bills, so you might expect them to save a larger share of their paychecks, too.
But contribution rates don’t always rise with income. Workers earning less than $15,000 annually saved an average of 6.1% of their pay in 2025, while those making between $15,000 and $29,999 saved 5.7%, Vanguard said.
Savings rates also fell at the high end of the income spectrum. Americans earning $100,000 to $149,999 saved an average of 9.0% of their pay, while those making $150,000 or more saved 8.6%.
Gender also influences savings rates and balances. Across all income bands, women, on average, contributed a bigger portion of their pay than men, according to Vanguard.
But median account balances were smaller for women than for men in all but one income bracket. For instance, women making between $100,000 and $149,999 a year saved an average of 9.4% of their pay, compared with men’s 8.8%. Yet their median balance was $107,720, versus $111,020 for men.
Experts say saving for retirement is particularly challenging for women. They often make less than their male colleagues and are more likely to take time off or reduce their work hours for caretaking responsibilities.