Growing Participation
The number of taxpayers holding at least one IRA has grown from roughly 51 million in 2004 to 70 million by 2022, according to IRS Statistics of Income data. That is approximately one-third of all U.S. tax filers. The Investment Company Institute reports that 57.9 million households (44% of all U.S. households) owned an IRA as of mid-2024, up from 34% a decade earlier.
Growth in account counts has been driven primarily by Roth IRAs, which surged from 20.7 million accounts in 2017 to 28.1 million in 2022, a 36% increase in just five years. Traditional IRAs remain the dominant type by assets ($10.8T vs. $1.4T for Roth in 2022), but Roth adoption is accelerating as younger workers prioritize tax-free growth.
Average Balances Vary Widely
The IRS-derived average IRA balance of $184,288 (2022) obscures enormous variation. The average is heavily skewed by mega-IRAs: the top 1% of accounts hold balances well into the millions, while the median IRA balance is far lower. Fidelity, which manages 17.3 million IRA accounts, reports an average balance of $121,983 as of Q1 2025, suggesting the broader IRS average is pulled up by very large accounts at brokerages and custodians that skew wealthier.
The average balance is also highly cyclical, tracking equity markets closely. It plunged from $87,477 in 2007 to $67,545 in 2008, then steadily climbed to $215,404 by 2021 before dropping back to $184,288 in 2022's market downturn. For the $500K+ net worth segment, IRAs often represent a significant share of liquid wealth.
The Rollover Engine
A critical driver of IRA asset growth is the 401(k)-to-IRA rollover. When workers leave a job or retire, they frequently roll their employer plan balance into an IRA. These rollovers dwarf annual IRA contributions: in a typical year, IRA contributions total $50-60 billion, while rollovers from employer plans can exceed $500 billion. This explains why IRA assets can grow rapidly even though individual contribution limits are modest ($7,000 in 2025, or $8,000 for those 50+).
The rollover dynamic also means that IRA asset totals partly reflect the maturation of the 401(k) system. As the first generation of lifetime 401(k) participants reaches retirement age, their accumulated savings flow into IRAs, a structural tailwind that will persist for decades.
Wealth Concentration
IRAs exhibit significant wealth concentration. Traditional IRAs, which make up 83% of total IRA assets, are disproportionately held by older, higher-income households. SEP and SIMPLE IRAs (designed for self-employed individuals and small businesses) add another $718 billion (2022), serving as a retirement vehicle for the entrepreneurial segment.
For personal finance enthusiasts in the $500K+ net worth bracket, IRAs are often the centerpiece of a tax-optimized retirement strategy. Roth conversions, backdoor Roth contributions, and strategic asset location between tax-deferred and taxable accounts are key levers. With $18.9 trillion at stake, the policy decisions around IRA contribution limits, required minimum distributions, and Roth conversion rules have outsized impact on household wealth trajectories.
The Largest Pool of Retirement Wealth
Individual Retirement Accounts hold $18.9 trillion in assets as of Q3 2025, making them the single largest component of the $48.1 trillion U.S. retirement market. IRAs account for roughly 39% of all retirement assets, exceeding 401(k) plans, defined benefit pensions, and government retirement funds individually.
This dominance has been decades in the making. When IRAs were first introduced under ERISA in 1974, total assets were negligible. By 1990, they had reached $637 billion. The $1 trillion mark fell in the mid-1990s, and growth accelerated through the dot-com era, the post-crisis recovery, and the extended bull market of the 2010s. The trajectory from $5T in 2010 to $19T in 2025 (nearly quadrupling in 15 years) reflects both market appreciation and the steady flow of 401(k)-to-IRA rollovers as workers change jobs or retire.