Here’s The Average Net Worth of Millennials

While American media is rife with stories about millionaire (and billionaire) teenagers and 30 Under 30 lists, the data shows that the Mark Zuckerbergs (worth almost $50 billion) and Evan Spiegels (worth $2 billion) of the world have little in common with their millennial brethren.

Financial website The College Investor estimated the average net worth (or assets minus liabilities) for several cohorts of millennials. Not surprisingly, the liabilities here are, primarily, student loan debt. As The College Investor points out, the average debt burden for students has almost doubled within the millennial generation. Graduates in the Class of 2016 are saddled with $37,172 in student loan debt, on average, while those in the Class of 2003 had an average of $18,271 to pay back upon graduation. That makes a big difference.

If you’re a millennial and you want to be better than average you should aim for $10,400+ to your name, according to the research. That’s slightly more realistic than aiming for a Zuckerberg-level bank account (though MONEY has plenty of savings and investing tipsto help you maximize yours).

The College Investor estimates Generation Y’s net worth by age breaks down like so: detract

AVERAGE NET WORTH
35 (Class of 2003)	$20,236
34 (Class of 2004)	$17,351
33 (Class of 2005)	$13,599
32 (Class of 2006)	$9,896
31 (Class of 2007)	$6,036
30 (Class of 2008)	$2,093
29 (Class of 2009)	-$1,989
28 (Class of 2010)	-$6,043
27 (Class of 2011)	-$10,168
26 (Class of 2012)	-$14,447
25 (Class of 2013)	-$18,988
24 (Class of 2014)	-$23,704
23 (Class of 2015)	-$28,706
22 (Class of 2016)	-$33,984

But isn’t this low? Not really. Millennials, roughly between the ages of 18 and 35, may just be starting college, or have graduated over a decade ago. Some entered the job market in the midst of the Great Recession, while others missed it completely. Some are starting families and buying houses, and others are renting textbooks. It’s a massive cohort, and making sweeping generalizations isn’t particularly helpful. The site attempted to take pay, debt, and savings rates into account when making the calculations.

For reference, here are the average starting salaries for millennials over the years, according to NACE.

AGE	AVERAGE STARTING SALARY
35 (Class of 2003)	$40,818
34 (Class of 2004)	$43,124
33 (Class of 2005)	$41,376
32 (Class of 2006)	$42,881
31 (Class of 2007)	$43,094
30 (Class of 2008)	$42,414
29 (Class of 2009)	$41,546
28 (Class of 2010)	$40,766
27 (Class of 2011)	$41,701
26 (Class of 2012)	$44,259
25 (Class of 2013)	$45,327
24 (Class of 2014)	$48,127
23 (Class of 2015)	$50,561
22 (Class of 2016)	$51,100 (estimated)