Double-Digit Growth Again for 401(k), 403(b) Balances

Average 401(k) and 403(b) balances increased by double-digit percentages in 2025, marking the third straight year of strong growth, according to Fidelity Investments’ “Q4 2025 Retirement Analysis” report, released Wednesday.

The average 401(k) balance went up more than 11% in 2025 to $146,400, while the average 403(b) balance rose 13%, reaching $133,500 by the end of the year.

“People are looking to save overall, but it’s encouraging that they’re not pulling back on their retirement savings,” says Mike Shamrell, a Fidelity vice president of thought leadership.

Shamrell adds that not only are employees saving, but the vast majority of their employers are contributing, as participants “continue to save at a healthy rate.” By the end of 2025, 88% of employees with 401(k) plans received an employer match, about the same proportion as in 2024.

Savings rates and contributions remained high in the year’s final quarter, fueling account balance growth. The average total 401(k) savings rate held steady at 14.2% for the third consecutive quarter—only slightly trailing Fidelity’s suggested 15% rate—resulting from a consistent employee contribution rate of 9.5% and an employer contribution rate of 4.7%.

Long-term savers saw especially heightened balance growth last year. The average account balance for the more than 5.5 million Fidelity participants that have been with the same employer for five consecutive years increased to $304,200 at the end of 2025, a 16% increase from December 31, 2024.

In Q4 2025, 11.2% of workers increased their 401(k) contribution rates—including that exact share of Millennial participants, 10.7% of Generation X savers and more than 13% of Generation Z participants. Some 51.4% of the increases were due to automatic escalation features, while 48.6% of those whose contribution levels increased did so independently, Shamrell says.

For 2025 overall, participant contribution growth stemmed more from automatic increases than self-initiated bumps. About 73% of contribution rate increases were automatic, while 27% were initiated by participants, per Shamrell. That data accounted for automatic increases that took effect early in 2025, as opposed to in the fourth quarter.

In addition to the considerable 401(k) and 403(b) growth, the average individual retirement account balance grew 7% to $137,095 in the fourth quarter of 2025. The number of Fidelity IRA account holders making contributions in the fourth quarter was up 25% from the same period one year earlier, and total account contributions were up 23%, a record high for individual retirement account contributions made in Q4.

Gen Z participants increased their IRA contributions by 25% year-over-year, driven in part by increased Roth contributions, according to the analysis. In the third quarter of 2025, 95% of Gen Z participants invested their contributions in Roth accounts, compared with 75% and 66% of Millennials and Generation X participants, respectively.

Women savers continued to make strides in Q4 2025 as well.

After the average balance for women who participated continuously in their employer’s 401(k) for 15 years crossed $500,000 for the first time in the third quarter of 2025—hitting $501,100—it grew to $508,700 by the end of 2025. Women’s 401(k) balances increased by an average of 22% over the past five years, compared with 20% among all plan participants.

Gen Z again demonstrated positive savings behaviors: While about 40% of women increased their 401(k) savings rates at some point in 2025, 46.6% of Gen Z women did so.

Fidelity’s analysis was based on 18.9 million IRA accounts; 26,200 401(k) plans with 24.8 million participants; and 10,660 403(b) plans with 24.8 million participants, as of December 31, 2025.