Results from the 2025 Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED), which was fielded in October, continued to show stability in financial well-being at a level slightly below that seen just before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.1 Labor market indicators in the survey also remained solid, despite some softening. Additionally, the share of adults who said that price increases were a major concern declined. Nevertheless, prices remained the most common financial concern among U.S. adults.
Concerns about finding or keeping a job increased compared with the prior year. There was a small increase in layoffs, slightly fewer voluntary quits, and fewer people changing jobs than in 2024. Additionally, more adults under age 30 said that not being able to find a job kept them from working than in the prior year.
The adoption of generative artificial intelligence (AI) is also changing the workplace, with one-in-four workers saying that they used generative AI at work in the prior month. Users of generative AI were more likely to see potential benefits of the technology for their careers than to worry it will replace their jobs.
Despite some persistent financial concerns, measures of savings and credit use were similar to a year earlier. The share of adults who would pay for an unexpected $400 expense with cash or the equivalent was unchanged, as was the share who could cover three months of expenses with a rainy day fund. The share of non-retirees saying that their retirement savings plan was on track was unchanged. Credit card ownership rates and repayment behaviors were also similar to prior years overall.
In addition to looking at the financial situation of adults overall, the survey continued to track financial well-being for demographic groups. Despite the generally stable financial situation for adults as a whole, financial well-being declined for young adults, low-income families, and Black adults.
The survey continues to cover a range of financial topics, such as credit access, housing affordability, childcare, student loans, economic hardships, and banking. Key findings across each of the sections in the report include the following:
Overall financial well-being
- At 73 percent, the share of adults “doing okay financially” or “living comfortably” held steady in 2025, though certain demographic groups, including low-income, young, and Black adults, saw meaningful declines.
- “Price increases” remained the most common financial concern. Just above 9 in 10 adults said “price increases” were a “minor” or “major concern,” unchanged from the prior year. That said, the share citing “price increases” as a major concern declined 3 percentage points.
- Concerns about “finding or keeping a job” became more common in 2025, consistent with other evidence of a solid but softening labor market. Forty-two percent of adults said “finding or keeping a job” was either a “minor” or “major concern,” up from 37 percent in 2024.
- In contrast to people’s perceptions of their own financial situation, consumer views on the national economy worsened over the prior year and remained much more pessimistic than before the pandemic. About one-fourth of adults rated the national economy as “good” or “excellent,” down 3 percentage points from 2024 and 24 percentage points from 2019, before the pandemic.
Employment and job quality
- There was a small increase in layoffs and slightly fewer voluntary quits in 2025, indicating additional challenges for workers and job seekers. Fifteen percent of adults under age 30 were not working and said that not being able to find work contributed to them not working.
- One-in-four workers had used generative AI in the prior month as a part of their job. Workers with a graduate degree were more than four times more likely to use AI than those with a high school degree or less.
- Eighty-one percent of people who used generative AI agreed that it saves them time. Users of generative AI were also more likely to expect it to improve their career than to expect it to replace their jobs.
Living arrangements and care work
- The share of young adults who live with their parents has increased in recent years. In 2025, 49 percent of adults under age 30 lived with a parent. This share was up by 6 percentage points since 2022, and up 12 percentage points since 2019, just before the pandemic.
- One-in-four parents with children under age 13 used paid childcare. Most families who paid for both childcare and housing spent at least 50 percent as much on childcare as on housing.
Income and expenses
- Forty-seven percent of adults ages 18 to 29 received help from someone outside their household to pay an expense in the prior 12 months. Money for a cell phone bill, for general expenses, and for housing costs—such as rent, mortgage or utilities—were the most common forms of help that people received.
- A majority of adults (58 percent) said that changes in the prices they paid compared with the prior year had made their financial situation worse, but this share was down from 60 percent in 2024 and 65 percent in 2023.
Economic hardships
- Sixteen percent of adults did not pay all of their bills in the prior month, and 8 percent said members of their family sometimes or often did not have enough to eat. Both measures were similar to 2024.
- Twenty-six percent of adults skipped medical expenses because of cost in the prior year, down from 28 percent in 2024.
- Fifty-nine percent of adults had at least one type of major, unexpected expense in the prior 12 months. The most common unexpected expenses were a major vehicle repair or replacement (30 percent of adults), followed by a major house or appliance repair and unexpected major medical expenses (22 percent and 21 percent, respectively).
Savings and investments
- Sixty-three percent of adults said they would cover a hypothetical $400 emergency expense exclusively using cash, savings, or a credit card paid off at the next statement (referred to, altogether, as “cash or its equivalent”). This share was unchanged from the previous three years, but down from a high of 68 percent in 2021.
- Progress toward retirement saving goals was unchanged from 2024. Thirty-five percent of nonretirees thought their retirement savings plan was on track, up from 2022 and 2023, but down from 40 percent in 2021.
Banking
- While 94 percent of adults had a bank account, differences by income remained large. Nearly all adults with income of at least $100,000 had a bank account, compared with 77 percent among adults with income less than $25,000.
- Twenty percent of adults said they experienced financial fraud or scams, similar to the prior year. Sixteen percent experienced fraud involving their credit card, while 8 percent experienced another type of financial fraud. Collectively, the total amount of non-credit-card fraud was an estimated $100 billion in 2025, with $56 billion borne directly by consumers.
- Low-income adults tended to lose smaller amounts of money from fraud, though those losses were meaningful. Among adults with income less than $50,000, the median loss from fraud was $400. Yet, 4 in 10 adults with this level of income said they could not cover even a $100 emergency expense with only their savings.
Credit
- Since 2023, total credit card balances increased more for individuals currently experiencing financial difficulty. Using merged credit bureau data, average balances increased by more than 35 percent among those who said they were “finding it difficult to get by.”
- Credit card ownership continues to be lower among Black and Hispanic adults; however, carrying a balance on a credit card was more common among these groups.
- Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) use edged up 1 percentage point to 16 percent of all adults. Eleven percent of BNPL users had a payment trigger an overdraft or non-sufficient funds (NSF) fee from their bank in the prior year.
- Twenty-three percent of adults with student loans had recent payment difficulty. Slightly more than three-quarters of those experiencing payment difficulty said it was due to reasons related to affordability.
Housing
- Challenges paying rent increased compared with the prior year. Twenty-three percent of renters reported that they had been behind on their rent at some point in the past year, up 2 percentage points from 2024 and 6 percentage points since 2021.
- The cost of homeowners insurance affected homeowners in several ways, leaving some at increased financial risk. Six percent of homeowners went without homeowners insurance entirely, a majority because of cost. Among owners who had insurance, 20 percent said they could not afford as much coverage as they wanted, while 14 percent said they struggled to afford the premiums.
To learn more about the SHED’s findings and for the full report, downloadable data, and other materials, visit the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.
Transcript
Since 2013, the Survey of Household Economics and Decision Making has measured the economic well-being of U.S. households. The survey tracks key topics related to financial outcomes and consumer experiences.
In the most recent survey, fielded in October 2025, 73 percent of adults reported that they were either doing okay or living comfortably financially, consistent with 2024. The survey revealed that prices continued to be the most common financial concern in 2025, though the share saying it was a major concern declined to 53 percent from 56 percent in the prior year. The share who said it was a concern at all was unchanged.
Labor market indicators remained solid despite some softening. Nevertheless, 42 percent of adults cited finding or keeping a job as a minor or major concern, with 18 percent of adults indicating that finding or keeping a job was a major concern, up from 14 percent in 2024. There also was a small increase in layoffs as 7 percent of all adults reported being laid off, up from 6 percent the previous year.
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is also changing many workplaces. 44 percent of all workers agreed that AI saves time, including 81 percent of workers who had used it in their job in the past month. Workers who had used AI were also more likely to agree that it has benefits, and that having AI available to them will improve their career. However, 20 percent of all workers said that they worried about AI replacing their job.
More information about the wide range of financial opportunities and challenges facing US families is available in the Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2025. To view or download this year’s full report and downloadable survey data, visit: https://www.federalreserve.gov/consumerscommunities/shed.htm.
Connecting Communities:
Highlights from the 2025 Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking
How have families fared financially in the past year? Did trends shift in the use of emerging financial products? Join researchers from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors for a discussion that will explore findings from the 2025 Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED).
ENDNOTES
1 The Federal Reserve has fielded the SHED annually in the fourth quarter of each year since 2013. The latest survey was fielded from October 17 until October 28, 2025. The anonymized data, as well as appendixes containing the SHED questionnaire and responses to questions in the order asked, are also available at https://www.federalreserve.gov/consumerscommunities/shed.htm.