In the United States, households headed by married adults they have much more wealthon average than those run by single adults. And among unmarried adults, there is a significant wealth gap between men and women.

In 2022, the average single man had a net worth of $82,100, compared to $58,100 for the average single woman, according to US Census Bureau data.

But among unmarried women, wealth varies considerably between those with and without children under 18 in the household.

Households headed by unmarried women with no children under 18 had an average wealth of $87,200 in 2022 – similar to households headed by unmarried men. In contrast, the average wealth of households headed by unmarried women with children was $10,700.

(We cannot look separately at the wealth of households headed by unmarried men, with or without children, because of the relatively small number of single-father households.)

Gaps in certain household assets

A household’s total wealth is the value of its assets minus its outstanding debts. In terms of key assets, unmarried women without children are almost on a par with unmarried men. Single women with children are behind in every area.

• Home ownership: In 2022, 50% of single women without children under 18 owned their home. This is similar to the 47% of unmarried men who owned their home. Only 34% of single mothers own their home.
• Equity: The typical single female homeowner with no children had $165,000 in equity, which is the value of the home minus the outstanding mortgage balance. That’s slightly higher than the median home value of $150,000 for single male homeowners. Single mothers who own their home had a median home value of $114,000.
• Retirement Account Ownership: Among household heads, 48% of single women without children and 50% of single men owned a retirement account (eg, a 401(k) or IRA) in 2022. This compares to 40% of single mothers.
• Savings for pensions: Single, childless women who have a retirement account had an average of $43,700 in those accounts, not far below the $45,000 accumulated by single men. By contrast, the median amount in retirement accounts for households headed by a single mother was $12,000.

How age contributes to wealth

On average, unmarried women tend to earn less than unmarried men. So how come single women without children have similar levels of wealth to single men?

An important factor is age. Older household heads tend to have more wealth than younger ones. And among household heads, unmarried women without children are, on average, older than unmarried men.

The average age of single women without children heading a household is 61, compared to 50 for single men heading a household.

Once age is taken into account, single women without children do not have the same wealth as single men. For example, among household heads under 65, the median wealth of single women without children is $38,900, compared to $59,400 for single men.

Age also plays a role in explaining the low wealth of households headed by unmarried women with children. The average age of heads of household who are single mothers is 39 years.