Are Americans really struggling?
The latest Federal Reserve data gives a pretty clear picture:
- 27% of American adults were either “just getting by” (19%) or “finding it difficult to get by” (8%) in late 2025.
- About 16% said they did not pay all their bills in the previous month.
- 8% said their family sometimes or often didn’t have enough to eat.
- 37% identified inflation/prices as a financial challenge, and 22% cited basic living expenses.
- Only 63% said they could cover a $400 emergency expense using cash or its equivalent, meaning 37% could not do so that way.
So, depending on what you mean by struggling, I’d put the number at roughly 1 in 4 Americans experiencing meaningful financial strain, while a broader definition of financial vulnerability gets closer to 1 in 3.
Federal Reserve’s Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED) that I referenced, the data comes primarily from surveys of U.S. adults, not from the Fed directly monitoring people’s bank accounts.
Self-reported financial stress can coexist with substantial spending on restaurants, concerts, sports, vacations, etc. That doesn’t necessarily mean people are lying.
The key is that “struggling” isn’t the same as “spending nothing on discretionary things.”
For example, someone might:
- Have enough income to pay their regular bills but no meaningful savings cushion.
- Put a $300 concert or sports ticket on a credit card.
- Spend $150 on dinner while simultaneously carrying $10,000 in credit-card debt.
- Own a $60,000 vehicle but have very little cash available for an emergency.
- Say they’re “just getting by” because their monthly income is completely consumed by expenses.
It’s like living paycheck to paycheck. It’s not being poor, living paycheck to paycheck occurs at all income levels. Struggling apparently provides great flexibility as well.
