The average net worth of Australian households can obviously vary between very high (Australian Bank CEO’s )and very low (Homeless people), however a few figures that have been released for 2009-10 by the ABS.
The Average Australian Household Net Worth for 2009/10 was $719,561, with the median figure being $425,502.
The Poorest Group
The poorest 20% of households account for 1% of total household net worth, with an average net worth of $31,829 per household, ($30,000 Median).
The Richest Group
The wealthiest 20% of households in Australia account for 62% of total household net worth, with an average net worth of $2,223,013 per household, ($1,475,005 Median)
The Middle Group
Using the above two figures, the middle 60% must then account for 39% of total household net worth.
This group is now split into three, each with 20% of the overall total in number of households:
1: $195,749 average net worth per household ($194,283 median)
2: $427,168 average net worth per household ($425,527 Median)
3: $720,536 average net worth per household ($708,057 Median)
The difference between Median and mean Average is only of real notice in the highest income group, with the remaining 80% of households having similar Median to Mean figures.
There were a total of 8,395,500 households.
5,330,300 were in Capital Cities with the remaining 3,068,200 outside the Capital Cities.
Charting the Median Net Worth figures we see the following for 2009/10:
| Groups | Mean Net Worth |
| Lowest 20% | $ 30,000 |
| Next Lowest 20% | $194,283 |
| Middle 20% | $425,527 |
| Next Highest 20% | $708,057 |
| Highest 20% | $1,475,005 |
| Overall Median | $425,502 |
Source: ABS 6523.0 – Household Income and Income Distribution, Australia, 2009-10
Mean Average = All values divided by the number of Households.
Median Average = The household value where 50% of the others are above that point, and 50% are below.