More Americans are Living Paycheck to Paycheck

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58% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck after inflation spike — including 30% of those earning $250,000 or more. CNBC

With inflation at 40-year highs, workers across all income levels are having a harder time making ends meet. As one CNBC financial guru once commented, “Too many Americans are left with more month than money.”

As of May 2022, with inflation driving up costs everywhere for consumers in all income brackets, 58% of Americans — roughly 150 million adults — live paycheck to paycheck, according to a new LendingClub report. That’s down slightly from 61% who reported living paycheck to paycheck in April but up from 54% in May 2021.

Consumers are struggling to afford their day-to-day lifestyle and tend to rely more on credit cards and carry higher monthly balances making them financially vulnerable.

This increase means approximately three in five U.S. consumers devote nearly all their salaries to expenses with little to nothing left over at the end of the month.

Those struggling to afford their day-to-day lifestyle tend to rely more on credit cards and carry a higher monthly balance, making them financially vulnerable, the survey said.

Overall, credit card balances rose year over year, reaching $841 billion in the first three months of 2022, according to a separate report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

References:

  1. Jessica Dickler, “58% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck after inflation spike — including 30% of those earning $250,000 or more”, CNBC Personal Finance, June 27, 2022, https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/27/more-than-half-of-americans-live-paycheck-to-paycheck-amid-inflation.html
  2. https://www.pymnts.com/consumer-finance/2022/report-36-of-consumers-earning-250k-now-live-paycheck-to-paycheck/
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