Economic Well-Being of US Households in 2024

Results from the 2024 Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED), which was fielded in October, indicate that people’s financial well-being was similar to the previous two years but below the high reached in 2021.¹ Concerns about prices persisted, and labor market conditions remained solid.

Inflation and prices continued to be the top financial concern. A majority of adults also said that changes in the prices they paid over the prior year had made their finances worse, but the share saying so declined from 2023. In response to higher prices, most people reported taking actions such as adjusting their spending over the prior year. The share who took actions in response to inflation was similar to 2023, but down slightly from 2022.

The labor market remained solid. Similar shares of people both started and voluntarily left jobs in 2024 compared with 2023. However, these measures were below their peaks in 2022. Additionally, a smaller share of people who changed jobs said that their new job was better in 2024 compared with 2023.

People also continued to earn money doing gigs, including 13 percent who sold things and 9 percent who did short-term tasks such as giving rides or doing odd jobs. A meaningful share of those performing these types of gig activities said that without them they would have trouble making ends meet, though many said they wished the pay was more consistent.

Emergency savings measures were similar to the previous two years, while retirement preparedness improved slightly. The share of adults who would pay for an unexpected $400 expense with cash or the equivalent was unchanged from 2022 and 2023, and the share who said they had rainy day funds to cover three months of expenses edged up. Additionally, non-retired adults were slightly more likely to say that their retirement savings plan was on track than in 2023, extending the upward trend from 2022. That said, each of these measures was down from 2021.

Survey results also highlighted financial risks facing consumers. Twenty-one percent of adults experienced financial fraud or scams in 2024. While credit card fraud was the most common type of financial fraud, consumers are not typically required to cover these losses directly. In contrast, the 8 percent of adults who experienced fraud not related to their credit card lost an estimated $63 billion in total. Other financial risks involved being unprepared for unexpected events, including by lacking homeowners insurance. Overall, 7 percent of homeowners went without homeowners insurance, frequently because they could not afford it.

The survey continues to track other financial topics, such as care work; retirement; cryptocurrency; buy now, pay later (BNPL); rental affordability; and student loans. Key findings across each of the sections in the report include the following:

Overall financial well-being

The 73 percent of adults doing okay or living comfortably financially was similar to the 72 percent seen in 2023 yet was down from the recent high of 78 percent in 2021.
Inflation and prices continued to be the top financial concern, particularly the prices of food and groceries.
People’s perceptions of their local economy and the national economy continued to improve, though overall they remained pessimistic. For example, 29 percent of adults rated the national economy as “good” or “excellent” in 2024, up from 22 percent in 2023, yet down from 50 percent in 2019.

Employment and gig work

People continued to earn money in ways that went beyond traditional employment. Thirteen percent of adults made money by selling things in the gig or resale sectors, and 9 percent made money by doing short-term tasks such as giving rides, delivering takeout, or doing odd jobs.
Fifty-five percent of people who did gig work agreed that it gave them flexibility, but a lower 35 percent said it gave them work-life balance.
Health problems, caring for family, or a lack of work contributed to the timing of retirement for 42 percent of retirees. Half of retirees with a high school degree or less cited at least one of these reasons.

Job quality

Fourteen percent of adults started a new job and 9 percent quit a job in 2024. Both were similar to 2023 but down from peaks of 15 percent and 11 percent in 2022.
Among workers who changed jobs in 2024, 62 percent said that the new job was better than their previous one, down from 67 percent of job changers who said their new job was better in 2023 and 72 percent in 2022.
Workers with more education continued to have more autonomy regarding the work they did and where they did it. Sixty percent of those with a bachelor’s degree worked from home at least some of the time, compared with 18 percent of those with a high school degree or less.
Seventeen percent of employees worked a schedule that varied based on their employer’s needs.

Care work and living arrangements

Parents were almost twice as likely to use unpaid childcare as they were to pay for childcare. Forty-six percent of parents of children under age 13 used some form of unpaid childcare from someone other than the child’s parent, while 24 percent used paid childcare.
Childcare costs remained significant. Just over half of parents who used paid childcare spent at least 50 percent as much on childcare as on housing, most people’s single largest monthly expense.

Income and expenses

Sixty percent of adults said that changes in the prices they paid compared with the prior year had made their financial situation worse, down from 65 percent in 2023.
In response to higher prices, 79 percent of adults reported adjusting their behavior in the prior year, and the most common responses were spending changes. The share who took action in response to higher prices was unchanged from 2023, but down slightly from 2022.
The share of adults who reported spending less than their income in the month before the survey rose to 51 percent from 48 percent in 2023, suggesting that more adults have margin in their budgets. Nonetheless, this share was down from a high of 55 percent in 2020 and 2021.

Savings and investments

Sixty-three percent of adults said they would cover a hypothetical $400 emergency expense exclusively using cash or its equivalent, unchanged from 2022 and 2023 but down from a high of 68 percent in 2021.
Progress toward retirement savings goals improved slightly in 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 and credit

Use of buy now, pay later (BNPL) edged up 1 percentage point to 15 percent, while the share of BNPL users paying late increased sharply. Nearly one-fourth were late making a payment, compared with 18 percent in the prior year.
Twenty-one percent of adults reported experiencing financial fraud or scams involving their money, with 17 percent reporting fraud related to their credit card and 8 percent reporting another type of financial fraud.
In total, consumers lost $84 billion from non-credit-card fraud before any funds were recovered and $63 billion after recovery.

Housing

Rent continued to rise. The median reported rent was $1,200 in 2024, up about 10 percent each year since 2022.
About 2 in 10 adults said they were affected financially by a natural disaster in the prior year, including 8 percent who were moderately or severely affected. Property damage was the most common way people were affected.
Seven percent of homeowners did not have homeowners insurance, most often because of cost. When asked the main reason they didn’t have homeowners insurance, 43 percent said they “couldn’t afford it,” while another 19 percent said “it is not worth the cost.”

Higher education and student loans

As new borrowing for higher education has declined in the past decade, fewer young adults under age 30 have borrowed for their education than those ages 30 to 44.
Three in ten borrowers with loans outstanding who completed some college, a technical degree, or an associate degree reported being behind on student loan payments, compared with 11 percent of borrowers with a bachelor’s degree.

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.

Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2024 (video, 02:05).

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 2024, 73 percent of adults reported that they were either doing okay or living comfortably financially, similar to 2022 and 2023 but below the level reported in 2021. The survey also revealed that prices continued to be a top financial concern in 2024. 60 percent of adults said that inflation made their finances somewhat or much worse in the prior year. However, this share was down from 65 percent in 2023.

To better understand the labor market, the survey included questions about movements into and out of jobs. Similar shares of adults applied for jobs in each of the past three years. However, the share who voluntarily left a job has declined since 2022, while the share who lost a job was slightly higher, suggesting less demand for workers.

Another way of examining how well the job market is working for people is to measure whether people who had a different job from a year prior, like their new job more. Among those who changed jobs,62 percentsaid that their new job was better, down from a peak of 72 percent in 2022.

There was a similar decline in 2024, in the share of job changers who said that their new job improved in terms of pay and benefits, interest in the work, opportunities for advancement and work life balance.

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 18 until October 31, 2024. 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.

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