Report Finds 61% of U.S. Consumers, Including 36% of Consumers Earning More than $250k Annually, Living Paycheck-to-Paycheck

A report produced through a collaboration with PYMNTS and LendingClub and released earlier this month found that a growing number of consumers in all income brackets, including those making more than $250,000 per year, are now living paycheck-to-paycheck. The report, entitled “New Reality Check: The Paycheck-to-Paycheck Report” draws on insights from a survey of 4,048 U.S. consumers conducted from April 6-13 in addition to an analysis of other economic data.

While 61 percent of U.S. consumers reported living paycheck-to-paycheck in April 2022, 36 percent of those making more than $250,000 per year are now living paycheck-to-paycheck and devoting nearly all of their incomes to bills and expenses with little to nothing left over at the end of the month for saving. This year’s numbers are a 9 percent increase as in April 2021, only 52 percent of all consumers reported living paycheck-to-paycheck.

The report also found that consumers earning more than $250,000 per year “are 40% more likely to use financial products than consumers in the lowest bracket, and as many as 63% of them have an above-average credit score exceeding 750 points,” the report says.

In total, the report found that approximately 157 million adults in the United States­—or two-thirds of the population—are currently living paycheck-to-paycheck. It also found that nearly a third of consumers earning above $250,000 per year have average or below-average credit scores, with 18 percent reporting an average score and 13 percent reporting a below average score.