Fidelity released its annual report on 401k balances.  In 2005 the average balance in their 401k plans was $62,500 which represented a 3% increase from 2004 levels.   Fidelity is one of the largest providers of 401k plans with over 9 million participants.

Earlier this week the average balances were released for the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) which is used by over 3.5 million employees of the federal government.  It's interesting  the averages are so close- the average balance for participants covered by FERS was $61,221 and $52,356 for employees covered by the Civil Service retirement System (CSRS).

The 401khelpcenter.com provides the report.