Contributions to Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs): Fact Sheet

Contributions to Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs): Fact Sheet

Contributions to Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs): Fact Sheet

Updated December 3, 2025 (R48051)

Contents

Background

Contributions to IRAs

Tables

Table 1. Contributions to Traditional IRAs

Table 2. Contributions to Roth IRAs

Background

Individuals can save for retirement in two types of tax-advantaged accounts: defined contribution (DC) accounts and individual retirement accounts (IRAs).¹ A DC plan is an employer-sponsored retirement plan in which contributions from a worker, the employer, or both are placed in an individual account. Individuals with wage income can also contribute to IRAs, which are privately held retirement savings accounts. Contributions—and any investment earnings—in DC accounts and IRAs can be used as a source of income in retirement. Both DC accounts and IRAs may accept rollovers. Rollovers—transfers of funds from one retirement account to another—preserve the tax advantages of retirement savings.² This report provides Internal Revenue Service (IRS) data on contributions to IRAs in 2022. Congress has an interest in contribution data because tax expenditures for retirement plans (estimated to be $35.1 billion for IRAs and $152.2 billion for DC plans in FY2025) are one of the largest categories of revenue losses attributable to provisions in the tax code.³

The tax benefits of IRAs depend on whether the account is a traditional or a Roth account.⁴ Contributions to a traditional IRA may be tax deductible in the year in which they are made based on income limits and depending on whether the account holder or spouse has a pension plan at his or her work.⁵ Investment earnings in traditional IRAs accumulate on a tax-deferred basis. Withdrawals from traditional IRAs (except for amounts attributed to non-deductible contributions) are included in taxable income when received. Contributions to Roth IRAs are not tax deductible in the year in which they are made. Investment earnings accumulate on a tax-free basis. Qualified distributions from a Roth account (those taken by an individual who has held the account for five years and made after death, on account of disability, or on or after attainment of age 59½) are not included in taxable income.⁶

Individuals' contributions to IRAs are subject to annual contribution limits. In 2022 (the most recent year for which contribution data from the IRS is available), an individual could contribute to his or her IRA up to the lesser of (1) his or her wage income for the year or (2) $6,000.⁷ Individuals age 50 and older could make additional $1,000 catch-up contributions to their IRAs. The IRA contribution and catch-up contribution limits are adjusted annually for cost of living.⁸

Contributions to IRAs

Table 1 provides data on contributions to traditional IRAs in 2022. Nearly 5 million taxpayers contributed to traditional IRAs, with an average contribution of $4,510. More than half of individuals under age 50 (54.2%) and those age 50 to under 72 (53.5%) who made contributions to their traditional IRAs contributed the maximum amount ($6,000 for those under 50; $7,000 for those 50 and older in 2022).⁹ Nearly 4% of taxpayers age 50 to under 72 made catch-up contributions of less than the maximum $1,000 amount (not shown in Table 1).

Table 1. Contributions to Traditional IRAs

Tax Year 2022

Age Group

Number of Contributing Taxpayers

Average Contribution

Percentage of Contributors Making the Maximum Contribution

Average Non-Maximum Contribution

Percentage of Contributors Age 50 and Older Making Any Catch-Up Contribution

All

4,989,322

$4,510

See note.

See note.

n/a

Under 35

724,782

$3,494

43.8%

$1,537

n/a

35 to under 50

1,649,326

$4,258

58.7%

$1,781

n/a

Under 50

2,374,108

$4,025

54.2%

$1,690

n/a

50 to under 65

1,998,656

$4,911

53.0%

$2,556

56.5%

65 to under 72

612,430

$5,095

55.0%

$2,767

59.8%

50 to under 72

2,611,086

$4,954

53.5%

$2,604

57.3%

Source: CRS analysis of Internal Revenue Service (IRS), "SOI Tax Stats—Accumulation and Distribution of Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRA)," Table 5: Taxpayers with Traditional Individual Retirement Arrangement (IRA) Contributions, by Size of Contribution and Age of Taxpayer, Tax Year 2022, https://www.irs.gov/statistics/soi-tax-stats-accumulation-and-distribution-of-individual-retirement-arrangements.

Notes: In 2022 (the latest year for which data is available), there were 128.4 million taxpayers with wage income. In 2022, the IRA contribution limit for individuals was $6,000. Individuals age 50 and older could make additional $1,000 catch-up contributions. Prior to 2020, an individual could not contribute to a traditional IRA in or after the year he or she turned 70½. IRS data for tax year 2022 does not provide data on taxpayers age 72 and older. Maximum contribution refers only to taxpayers who contribute the exact amount of the limit. The maximum contribution for taxpayers whose earned income fell below the contribution limit is lower and was not captured in this table. In addition, the contribution limit applies to all of an individual's IRAs, so individuals who contributed the maximum amount but split contributions between traditional and Roth IRAs are not recorded in the data as having contributed the maximum amount.

Because those over 50 have a different maximum contribution than those under 50 and there is no age information available for 4,128 taxpayers who contributed to traditional IRAs, CRS cannot determine the percentage of all taxpayers making the maximum contribution or the average non-maximum contribution of all taxpayers.

Table 2 provides data on contributions to Roth IRAs in 2022. Over 10 million taxpayers contributed to Roth IRAs, with an average contribution of $3,482. Over one-third of taxpayers under 50 (34.5%) and about 38% of taxpayers age 50 and older who contributed to Roth IRAs in 2022 contributed the maximum amount ($6,000 for those under 50; $7,000 for those 50 and older in 2022).¹⁰ About 6% of taxpayers age 50 and older made catch-up contributions of less than the maximum $1,000 amount (not shown in Table 2).

Table 2. Contributions to Roth IRAs

Tax Year 2022

Age Group

Number of Contributing Taxpayers

Average Contribution

Percentage of Contributors Making the Maximum Contribution

Average Non-Maximum Contribution

Percentage of Contributors Age 50 and Older Making Any Catch-Up Contribution

All

10,036,960

$3,482

See note.

See note.

n/a

Under 35

3,776,036

$3,021

34.9%

$1,504

n/a

35 to under 50

3,086,628

$3,211

34.0%

$1,777

n/a

Under 50

6,862,664

$3,135

34.5%

$1,628

n/a

50 to under 65

2,528,153

$4,111

35.8%

$2,498

42.4%

65 and older

627,464

$4,736

48.1%

$2,642

53.5%

50 and older

3,155,617

$4,235

38.3%

$2,522

44.6%

Source: CRS analysis of Internal Revenue Service (IRS), "SOI Tax Stats—Accumulation and Distribution of Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRA)," Table 6: Taxpayers with Roth Individual Retirement Arrangement (IRA) Contributions, by Size of Contribution and Age of Taxpayer, Tax Year 2022, https://www.irs.gov/statistics/soi-tax-stats-accumulation-and-distribution-of-individual-retirement-arrangements.

Notes: In 2022 (the latest year for which data is available), there were 128.4 million taxpayers with wage income. In 2022, the IRA contribution limit for individuals was $6,000. Individuals age 50 and older could make additional $1,000 catch-up contributions. Maximum contribution refers only to taxpayers who contribute the exact amount of the limit. The maximum contribution for taxpayers whose earned income fell below the contribution limit is lower and was not captured in this table. In addition, the contribution limit applies to all of an individual's IRAs, so individuals who contributed the maximum amount but split contributions between traditional and Roth IRAs are not recorded in the data as having contributed the maximum amount.

Because those over 50 have a different maximum contribution than those under 50 and there is no age information available for 18,679 taxpayers who contributed to Roth IRAs, CRS cannot determine the percentage of all taxpayers making the maximum contribution or the average non-maximum contribution of all taxpayers.

Sylvia Bryan assisted in updating this report.

Footnotes

1.

For further information on DC plans, see IRS, "Definitions," https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-participant-employee/definitions. For further information on IRAs, see CRS Report RL34397, Traditional and Roth Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs): A Primer.

2.

IRS, "Rollovers of Retirement Plan and IRA Distributions," https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-participant-employee/rollovers-of-retirement-plan-and-ira-distributions.

3.

Department of the Treasury, Tax Expenditures Fiscal Year 2026, https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/131/Tax-Expenditures-FY2026.pdf.

4.

For further information on the differences between traditional and Roth accounts, see IRS, "Topic No. 451, Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs)," https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc451.

5.

IRS, "IRA Deduction Limits," https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/ira-deduction-limits.

6.

IRS, "About Publication 590-B, Distributions from Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs)," https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-publication-590-b.

7.

IRS, "Retirement Topics—IRA Contribution Limits," https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-participant-employee/retirement-topics-ira-contribution-limits.

8.

For the most recent contribution limits, see IRS, "2026 Amounts Relating to Retirement Plans and IRAs, as Adjusted for Changes in Cost-of-Living," https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-25-67.pdf.

9.

The $7,000 limit includes $1,000 in catch-up contributions.

10.

The $7,000 limit includes $1,000 in catch-up contributions.