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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesEconomic indicators offer different, partial views of household finances. A survey can capture how adults describe their financial well-being and recent changes in income, spending, or prices; national financial accounts can measure aggregate wealth and debt. Neither tells you exactly how every family is doing. To interpret a headline, check who or what was measured, when, and whether the figure describes a reported experience, a change over time, or a balance-sheet total.
What the latest U.S. household survey says
The Federal Reserve’s 2025 Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households is based on an annual survey of adults. The 2025 survey was conducted in October 2025, and the report was issued in May 2026. It found that 73 percent of adults said they were doing okay or living comfortably financially.
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That is a self-reported answer from adults—not the share of households above a particular income or savings threshold, and not an objective measure that every respondent is financially secure. The Federal Reserve describes the survey’s purpose as understanding families’ experiences. In announcing the report, Governor Michael S. Barr said, “As we work to support a strong and vibrant economy, it’s critical for the Federal Reserve to understand the economic experiences of families and communities.”
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The Fed’s historical SHED table reports the following shares of adults saying they were doing okay or living comfortably:
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| Survey year | Share of adults reporting okay or comfortable |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 78% |
| 2023 | 72% |
| 2024 | 73% |
| 2025 | 73% |
The 2025 result was unchanged from 2024 and below the 2021 reading in this series. These figures describe how surveyed adults assessed their finances in each year; they do not establish why the share changed or show that every group moved in the same direction.
What income, spending, and price reports tell you
The Fed’s 2024 SHED income-and-expenses report asks adults about changes they experienced or perceived. In 2024, 32 percent said their family’s monthly income had risen from a year earlier, while 37 percent said monthly spending had risen.
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Those are shares reporting an increase, not the size of the increase. They do not show whether spending rose because prices were higher, families bought more, or both. Nor do the two percentages alone establish whether families’ income kept pace with their expenses.
In the same report, 60 percent said changes in prices they paid had made their financial situation worse. That is an important measure of perceived impact on people’s lives, but it is not an inflation-rate calculation. A price index and a survey answer about how prices affected someone’s finances answer different questions.
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How household surveys differ from national wealth and debt figures
The Federal Reserve’s Financial Accounts of the United States report aggregate totals rather than individual survey answers. At the end of 2025 Q3, the accounts showed $181.6 trillion in household and nonprofit net worth and $20.7 trillion in household debt.
These are national balance-sheet amounts at a specific quarter-end. They do not tell you how wealth or debt is distributed among households: a large aggregate total cannot show whether a particular family has savings, substantial debt, or neither. A survey of adults reporting their experience and an aggregate account of national assets and liabilities are complementary evidence, not interchangeable measures.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.A quick way to read a household-finance headline
Before deciding whether an indicator means families are better or worse off, identify what it actually measures:
- Population and unit: Is it adults answering a survey, households, or a national aggregate?
- Measure: Is it self-reported well-being, a reported change in income or spending, a price measure, or a total of wealth or debt?
- Time period: Note the survey year and field dates, or the quarter-end date for financial accounts. Check whether the comparison is year over year or covers a longer trend.
- Type of figure: A change in income or spending is a flow; net worth and debt are balance-sheet levels. A perceived price burden is not the same as a calculated inflation rate.
- Distribution: Ask whether the statistic says anything about differences among households. National totals do not describe each family’s circumstances.
For broader context on U.S. economic well-being, the Fed’s 2025 SHED publication page also describes the Census Bureau’s Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) as a longitudinal source on changes in economic well-being and related characteristics. See the Federal Reserve publication index and the Census Bureau’s 2025 SIPP release.
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