New data from the Investment Company Institute has found that ownership of mutual funds has risen amongst middle-income households, introducing millions to investing.
The funds are driving middle-class investment, according to the ICI’s reports, “Ownership of Mutual Funds and Shareholder Sentiment 2025,” and “Characteristics of Mutual Fund Investors, 2025.” The reports show that the share of middle-income households owning mutual funds rose from 43 percent in 2005 to 57 percent in 2025, the largest percentage point increase in the second income quintile. Median income for households owning mutual funds was $125,000.
“Rising mutual fund ownership among middle-income households demonstrates the important role these investments play in the growing strength of the American middle class,” Sarah Holden, ICI Senior Director of Retirement and Investor Research, said. “This trend highlights the benefits of mutual fund ownership and the important role they play in helping investors secure their financial futures.”
The report also found that 73 percent of mutual fund-owning households held mutual funds in employer-sponsored retirement plans. Those plans, the report said, served as a key gateway to investing, with 84 percent of mutual fund-owning households younger than 50 holding mutual funds in those plans. More than half (56.4 percent) of US households’ own shares of mutual funds or other US-registered investment companies in 2025, representing an estimated 76.0 million US households and 128.7 million individual investors.
Nearly a third of US households owning mutual funds (61 percent) had incomes of less than $150,000, and more than half (52 percent) were between the ages of 35 and 64. In 2025, 57 percent of Gen. X households owned mutual funds, compared to 59 percent of Baby Boomer households and 63 percent of Silent Generation households. Only 50 percent of millennial households and 33 percent of Gen Z households owned mutual funds.