The Federal Reserve’s Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2025, published in May 2026, polled nearly 13,000 adults in October 2025. Seventy-three percent of adults said they were doing okay or living comfortably, holding steady for the fourth year running.
Many households could not say that. Here are the sobering highlights.
1. Half of young adults live with a parent
Nearly half of adults under 30, 49%, lived with a parent in 2025. That is up 6 percentage points since 2022 and 12 points since 2019. A weak entry-level job market is doing the pushing: 15% of young adults were not working specifically because they could not find a job, three times the rate for everyone 30 and older.
2. Black households lost ground in a flat year
The share of Black adults doing okay or living comfortably fell 5 percentage points in a single year, to 60%. Layoffs among Black adults rose to 13%, and the share whose finances were hurt by rising prices climbed.
3. Consumers lost $56 billion in fraud losses
One in five adults reported financial fraud or a scam. Setting aside credit card fraud, which banks usually cover, the Fed estimates consumers ate $56 billion in net losses on their own in 2025.
The median hit for households earning under $50,000 was $400 — a devastating blow when you consider that four in 10 of those same households said they couldn’t even cover a minor $100 emergency expense with their savings.
4. People are buying groceries on installment plans
Buy Now, Pay Later use rose to 16% of adults. One in five users reached for it to cover groceries or food delivery, and among those, 45% said it was the only way they could afford the purchase. Splitting a clothing order into four payments is one thing. Doing it for dinner is another.
5. BNPL users think it builds credit. It does not
A majority of Buy Now, Pay Later users, 53%, wrongly believed that on-time payments would help their credit score. At the time of the survey, those payments did not appear on any of the three major credit bureaus. Only 14% of users answered basic questions about the product’s credit effects correctly.
6. Card debt most impacts people already struggling
The Fed matched survey answers to actual credit records. Among people finding it difficult to get by, average balances jumped more than 37% over two years, an increase of more than $2,500. For those living comfortably, balances barely moved, up $59. The debt is concentrated exactly where the cushion is thinnest.
7. Homeowners reduce insurance coverage they cannot afford
Six percent of homeowners went without insurance entirely, and most blamed cost: 43% said they could not afford it. The gaps run by geography, with 11% uninsured across the West-South Central and East-South Central divisions.
Among those who kept coverage, more than six in 10 said premiums had risen faster than they expected.
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8. Renters are falling behind on rent
Twenty-three percent of renters had been behind on rent at some point in the past year, up 6 points from 2021. The strain falls on lower earners: A third of renters making under $50,000 fell behind, compared with 5% of those earning $100,000 or more.
9. Millions still cannot cover a $400 surprise
Twelve percent of adults said they could not cover a $400 emergency expense by any means. The share who could handle it with cash has been stuck at 63% for four years, down from a 2021 peak of 68%. The financial fragility the Fed has tracked for a decade has not improved.
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10. Only a third of non-retirees feel on track for retirement
Just 35% of non-retirees said their retirement savings were on track, down from 40% in 2021 and flat over the past year. The gap between having an account and feeling prepared is wide: Most non-retirees held a 401(k), an IRA, or a pension, yet two-thirds did not consider themselves on track.
What does this mean for you?
A national survey says nothing about your household or individual circumstances. But a few of these findings make for a useful personal audit: whether a $400 surprise would be a problem, whether a card balance is rolling from month to month, and whether the retirement account you have actually puts you on track.
Are you in the 73% doing okay, or do some of these financial pressures hit a little too close to home?
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