People type this into search every day: how to calculate net worth.
The usual answer is a slogan. Assets minus liabilities. That sentence is correct and too short. The work is deciding what counts as an asset, what counts as a debt, and what you do with a house that you are not about to sell.
This page is a labeled snapshot. It is not a credit score, and it is not personalized financial advice.
Add what you own, then subtract what you owe
The Federal Reserve’s October 2026 Survey of Consumer Finances bulletin, Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2022 to 2025, defines net worth as the difference between families’ assets and their liabilities. The SCF net worth flowchart is the long version of that subtraction. Financial accounts, retirement balances, houses, vehicles, and businesses on one side. Mortgages, vehicle loans, student loans, cards, and other debt on the other.
The 2025 survey’s real median net worth was $215,900. The real mean was $1,241,500. Those two numbers sit far apart because the mean is pulled by the top of the distribution. They are survey statistics. They are not a target for your household.
The net worth calculator uses three asset boxes and two debt boxes:
cash and investments + property + other assets − mortgage and loans − other debt
Assets use realistic current values. Future income and pensions stay out unless you type them as assets. The tool says both of those things in its assumptions.
Fig 1
Two piles, one remainder
Current values on the asset side. Balances you still owe on the debt side.
The default path is $420,000 of assets minus $257,000 of debts, which leaves $163,000.
Here are the published defaults:
- cash and investments: $68,000
- property and vehicles: $340,000
- other assets: $12,000
- mortgage and loans: $248,000
- cards and other debt: $9,000
Total assets: 68000 + 340000 + 12000 = $420,000.00
Total liabilities: 248000 + 9000 = $257,000.00
Net worth: 420000 − 257000 = $163,000.00
Debt-to-assets: 257000 ÷ 420000 = 61.2%
Calculator result
Net worth
- Cash & investments
- $68,000.00
- Property & vehicles
- $340,000.00
- Other assets
- $12,000.00
- Mortgage & loans
- $248,000.00
- Cards & other debt
- $9,000.00
$163,000.00
net worth
- Total assets
- $420,000.00
- Total liabilities
- $257,000.00
- Debt-to-assets ratio
- 61.2%
$163,000 is what remains on this snapshot. It is not cash you can spend this afternoon.
Fig 2 · 1/3
Where the $420,000 sits
Calculator defaults. Property is $340,000 of the pile.
Cash
$68,000
Property
$340,000
Other
$12,000
Cash and investments are $68,000, 16.2% of assets.
Property is $340,000. Other assets add $12,000.
The house and the car dominate the asset side. Take property out and leave $68,000 cash, $12,000 other assets, and $9,000 of other debt:
Assets: $80,000.00
Liabilities: $9,000.00
Net worth: $71,000.00
Debt-to-assets: 11.3%
Same household, if you treat the house as not-cash. The $163,000 default hid $92,000 of gross home equity (340000 − 248000) inside a number that looks liquid.
Home equity is ownership, not a checking balance
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s HELOC explainer says available equity is the value of your home minus the amount you owe on your mortgage. The same page says a HELOC uses that equity as collateral. Miss the payments and you can lose the home.
The home equity estimate calculator subtracts secured balances and a selling-cost slice:
home value − secured balances − estimated selling costs
The entered home value is only an estimate. Selling costs apply to the home value. The tool says both of those things.
Defaults:
- estimated home value: $480,000
- mortgage balance: $310,000
- other secured balances: $10,000
- estimated selling costs: 6%
Gross equity: 480000 − 310000 − 10000 = $160,000.00
Selling costs: 480000 × 0.06 = $28,800.00
Net equity after sale costs: $131,200.00
Loan-to-value: 320000 ÷ 480000 = 66.7%
Calculator result
Home equity estimate
- Estimated home value
- $480,000.00
- Mortgage balance
- $310,000.00
- Other secured balances
- $10,000.00
- Estimated selling costs
- 6%
$131,200.00
estimated net equity after sale costs
- Gross equity
- $160,000.00
- Estimated selling costs
- $28,800.00
- Loan-to-value
- 66.7%
Fig 3 · 1/3
Gross equity, then sale costs
Home equity calculator defaults. $480,000 house.
Ownership value
Gross equity
$160,000
Sale costs
$28,800
Net equity
$131,200
Gross equity is $160,000.
A 6% selling-cost slice is $28,800. Net equity after that slice is $131,200.
Set selling costs to 0% and the same house prints $160,000.00. That is the “I am not selling” number. The 6% default is the “I sell and pay a slice of the price” number. I am not going to pick a commission for you. Type the rate that matches the sale you are modeling.
Put the net-worth default house into the equity tool: $340,000 value, $248,000 mortgage, no other liens, 6% selling costs.
Gross equity: $92,000.00
Selling costs: $20,400.00
Net equity after sale costs: $71,600.00
Loan-to-value: 72.9%
$92,000 is the house’s contribution to the $163,000 net-worth default, before sale costs. After 6%, $71,600 remains. The $163,000 snapshot does not subtract those sale costs. Count them if you would sell. Leave them out if you are only tracking ownership.
The 2025 SCF bulletin puts homeowner median net worth at $458,900 and renter median net worth at $10,600. Those are two different balance sheets. A house moves the median. It does not turn the renter’s $10,600 into a mistake.
A second labeled household, then a renter path, then a negative one
The editorial example on the calculator is $45,000 cash, a $360,000 home, $18,000 other assets, a $255,000 mortgage, and $12,000 of other debt.
Assets: 45000 + 360000 + 18000 = $423,000.00
Liabilities: 255000 + 12000 = $267,000.00
Net worth: $156,000.00
Debt-to-assets: 63.1%
A renter-style snapshot, still a labeled example: $25,000 cash, an $8,000 car, $2,000 other assets, no mortgage, $14,000 of other debt.
Assets: $35,000.00
Liabilities: $14,000.00
Net worth: $21,000.00
Debt-to-assets: 40%
A negative path: $8,000 cash, an $18,000 car, $2,000 other assets, no mortgage, $42,000 of other debt.
Assets: $28,000.00
Liabilities: $42,000.00
Net worth: −$14,000.00
Debt-to-assets: 150%
Fig 4 · 1/2
Assets and debts on four snapshots
Same four labeled input sets. Net worth is the gap.
- Assets
- Debts
| Category | Assets | Debts |
|---|---|---|
| Default | $420k | $257k |
| Editorial | $423k | $267k |
| Renter-style | $35k | $14k |
| Negative | $28k | $42k |
The default has $420,000 of assets and $257,000 of debts.
The negative path is the one where debts, $42,000, sit above assets, $28,000.
Negative net worth means debts are larger than assets on that day. It does not tell you the order to repay those debts. The debt-to-income post uses monthly payments over gross monthly income. That is a flow. Net worth is a stock.
Families younger than 35 in the 2025 SCF had a real median net worth of $33,000. I am putting that next to the renter-style $21,000 so you can see a survey median and a labeled example in the same paragraph. Your age group is not a grade.
A savings rate moves the cash box. It does not reprice the house.
The personal savings rate calculator is:
(saved + extra principal) ÷ take-home income × 100
Required minimum debt payments stay out. All three boxes cover the same period.
Defaults:
- monthly take-home income: $4,200
- saved or invested: $700
- extra principal paid: $150
Total kept: 700 + 150 = $850.00
Amount spent: 4200 − 850 = $3,350.00
Savings rate: 850 ÷ 4200 = 20.2%
Calculator result
Personal savings rate
- Monthly take-home income
- $4,200.00
- Saved or invested
- $700.00
- Extra principal paid
- $150.00
20.2%
personal savings rate
- Total kept or used to reduce debt
- $850.00
- Amount spent
- $3,350.00
The Bureau of Economic Analysis personal saving rate is a national series. It is not this household’s 20.2%. Do not mix them.
$850 a month is $850 × 12 = $10,200 in a year, if the month repeats and nothing else moves. Add that $10,200 to the default $68,000 cash box and leave the house and the debts alone:
Cash: $78,200
Assets: $430,200.00
Net worth: $173,200.00
Debt-to-assets: 59.7%
Do that for five years, still with no price change on the house and no extra interest on the debts:
Year 0: $163,000
Year 1: $173,200
Year 2: $183,400
Year 3: $193,600
Year 4: $203,800
Year 5: $214,000
Fig 5 · 1/6
$850 a month, no asset reprice
Default net worth plus $10,200 a year added to cash. House and debts stay put.
Net worth
- Cash additions
| Point | Cash additions |
|---|---|
| 0y | $163k |
| 1y | $173k |
| 2y | $183k |
| 3y | $194k |
| 4y | $204k |
| 5y | $214k |
The snapshot starts at $163,000.
After five years of $10,200 added to cash the snapshot is $214,000.
That line is arithmetic. It is not a return. The house did not appreciate. The mortgage did not amortize. The $9,000 card did not accrue interest. I left those moving parts out on purpose so you can see the cash box.
Extra principal is in the savings-rate formula because paying $150 above the minimum shrinks a liability. On the net-worth side that $150 would leave the cash box and reduce the mortgage or the card. The $850 total still raises net worth by $850 if you either keep the cash or cut the debt. Spending the $700 and skipping the extra $150 leaves the snapshot where it was.
Save $420 and skip extra principal on the same $4,200:
Rate: 10%
Kept: $420.00
Spent: $3,780.00
Save $840 and skip extra principal:
Rate: 20%
Kept: $840.00
Spent: $3,360.00
Extra principal only, $150, no other saving:
Rate: 3.6%
Kept: $150.00
Spent: $4,050.00
The 50/30/20 budget post uses leftover after bills, not this 20.2% box. Twenty percent of $4,200 is $840. The default savings-rate path is $850 because $150 of extra principal sits next to $700 saved.
What belongs in the boxes
Use a conservative resale value for a car or a house. The price you paid is not always the price today. The calculator’s assumption is “realistic current values.”
A shared debt belongs at the amount you are legally responsible for. Keep the same rule each time you retake the snapshot. The SCF flowchart nets some business and nonresidential-property debt against the matching asset. If you own a business, pick one treatment and write it down.
Pensions and Social Security are usually future income, not a current asset, unless you type a cash value. The tool excludes them until you do.
The life insurance needs post subtracts savings and existing coverage from a gap. That coverage is not net worth. A term policy has no cash value in the SCF sense. Do not drop a death benefit into the cash box.
The emergency fund target is months of essentials. Cash that sits in the $68,000 box can be that fund. Home equity is not that fund. You cannot pay a medical bill with a 6% selling-cost estimate.
What this number is for
Take the snapshot on a schedule. Same categories. Same valuation habit. The direction is the useful part.
Do not treat $163,000 as a grade against the SCF median of $215,900. One is a labeled example. The other is a survey of U.S. families in 2025 dollars.
This is a balance sheet. It is not tax advice, and it is not a loan decision. Open the net worth calculator with current values, not purchase prices. If a house dominates the number, run home equity estimate with a selling-cost rate you would actually pay. If you want the monthly habit that moves the cash box, run personal savings rate on the same month’s take-home pay.