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Personal Finance Facts and Statistics

https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/bf90ccb07d8f4779606bc25de91d562f?s=100&d=mm&r=g
  • Written By:
    Kevin Mercadante

    Kevin Mercadante

    Kevin Mercadante is a professional personal finance writer. He has extensive backgrounds in both accounting and the mortgage industry. ...

    Read More
  • Updated: March 15, 2022
  • 4 Min Read
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It’s often said that “numbers don’t lie”. If so, what does that reveal about personal finance in the USA? To answer that question, we’ve prepared this analysis of personal finance facts and statistics to help you understand approximately where you are in comparison with other Americans.

The information revealed in our analysis isn’t intended to make you feel insecure in any way. Instead, it’s designed to help set parameters that will enable you to see how you are doing and to make improvements where you believe it’s necessary.

We hope you like numbers because we have plenty of them! They’re a necessary evil, and they go with the territory when it comes to personal finance. We’re going to present statistics concerning multiple topics relating to income, debt, savings and budgeting, and financial planning.

The median household income nationwide is $79,900. But there is a wide variation between the individual states. The following median household income statistics are provided by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, as of April 1, 2021:

StateMedian Household Income
Alabama$66,700
Alaska$93,900
Arizona$73,200
Arkansas$60,700
California$90,100
Colorado$93,000
Connecticut$102,600
Delaware$83,000
District of Columbia$123,100
Florida$70,000
Georgia$74,700
Hawaii$99,800
Idaho$69,000
Illinois$85,000
Indiana$73,300
Iowa$79,500
Kansas$77,400
Kentucky$65,100
Louisiana$64,700
Maine$75,700
Maryland$106,000
Massachusetts$106,200
Michigan$75,300
Minnesota$93,100
Mississippi$60,000
Missouri$72,300
Montana$72,100
Nebraska$79,400
Nevada$75,100
New Hampshire$98,200
New Jersey$106,000
New Mexico$61,400
New York$87,100
North Carolina$70,900
North Dakota$90,100
Ohio$75,300
Oklahoma$67,000
Oregon$81,200
Pennsylvania$81,000
Rhode Island$88,000
South Carolina$68,700
South Dakota$75,500
Tennessee$68,600
Texas$75,100
Utah$85,300
Vermont$84,100
Virginia$93,000
Washington$91,600
West Virginia$60,300
Wisconsin$80,300
Wyoming$81,900
US$79,900

Have you ever wondered where your income falls among wage earners nationwide? For example, you may be interested to know that if your household income is over $200,000 per year, you’re among the 10.3% wealthiest households in the country.

According to Statista, the income distribution in the US is as follows (for 2019):

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 10.5% of the population – or about 34 million people – were below the poverty line in 2019.

According to the US Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) the poverty line for 2019 is as follows (based on annual income by household size) for most of the country:

  • One person – $12,490
  • Two people – $16,910
  • Three people – $21,330
  • Four people – $25,750
  • Five people – $30,170
  • Six people – $34,590
  • Seven people – $39,010
  • Eight people – $43,430

Based on the table for “Median Household Income Per State” provided by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development in the first section above, the top five richest states in the USA are:

  • Massachusetts, $106,200
  • Maryland, $106,000
  • New Jersey, $106,000
  • Connecticut, $102,600
  • Hawaii, $99,800

Based on the table for “Median Household Income Per State” provided by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development in the first section above, the top five poorest states in the USA are:

  • Mississippi, $60,000
  • West Virginia, $60,300
  • Arkansas, $60,700
  • New Mexico, $61,400
  • Louisiana, $64,700

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), income per education level is as follows (for 2017):

Education LevelMean usual weekly earningsAnnual earnings
Doctoral degree$1,743$90,636
Professional degree$1,836$95,472
Master’s degree$1,401$72,852
Bachelor’s degree$1,173$60,996
Associate’s degree$836$43,472
Some college, no degree$774$40,248
High school diploma, no college$712$37,024
Less than a high school diploma$520$27,040
Average for all education levels$907$47,164

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, median earnings by age bracket are as follows (for the second quarter of 2021):

Age BracketMean usual weekly earningsAnnual earnings
16 to 24$619$32,188
25 to 34$928$48,256
35 to 44$1,119$58,188
45 to 54$1,134$58,968
55 to 64$1,130$58,760
65 and over$989$51,428

Average annual consumer spending in the USA was $63,036 in 2019, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The biggest individual category expenses were:

  • Housing, $20,679
  • Transportation, $10,742
  • Food, $8,169
  • Personal insurance and pensions, $7,165
  • Health, $5,193

Total consumer debt in the USA is $14.96 trillion. Those are the statistics issued by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for the second quarter of 2021. That includes all forms of consumer debt, including home mortgages, student loans, credit cards, and auto loans.

The amount of credit card debt in the USA is $807 billion. The average credit card debt per family is $6,270, and 45.4% of families carry some amount of credit card debt. (Source: Value Penguin)

The average American household pays $1,045.55 in credit card interest each year. It’s entirely likely the average American has no solid idea how much he or she is paying, due to multiple credit cards, and the variable nature of both credit card balances and interest rates.

About 2 million car repossessions yearly in the USA (source: Etags.com). Vehicles are typically repossessed within 90 days of loan default (your last payment).

The total amount of student loan debt in the USA is a record $1.71 trillion as of the beginning of 2021 (source: StudentLoanHero.com).

44.7 million students and graduates owe an average of nearly $30,000 in student loan debt. But student loan debts taken by parents for the benefit of their children averaged $37,200 per borrower.

544,463 Americans file for bankruptcy each year, including 522,808 personal bankruptcies. The rest are business bankruptcies. (Source: US Courts.gov.)

Of the total, 378,953 were Chapter 7 bankruptcies, representing total and immediate bankruptcy. 156,377 were Chapter 13 bankruptcies, representing partial bankruptcies, largely settled through installment payments.

45% of Americans have no savings at all (source: GOBankingRates).

The information is a bit dated, but according to a survey conducted by CareerBuilder in 2017, 78% of Americans live paycheck-to-paycheck. This includes fully 10% of households with annual incomes of $100,000 or more.

Only 41% of Americans have a budget, according to LendEdu.com.

Only 39% of Americans have enough money in their savings to cover a $1,000 emergency, according to a survey taken by Bankrate and released at the beginning of 2021. Most of the rest reported they would get the funds from credit cards, personal loans, or borrowing from family and friends.

Americans paid $11.8 billion in overdraft fees in 2020. Most of these fees were paid by individuals considered to be financially vulnerable. (Source: Forbes.)

The average amount of savings per American is $17,135, as of November 2020. That’s the national average, however state averages vary considerably. The average in West Virginia is $6,936 (the lowest), while the average in South Dakota is $24,497 (the highest).

50.5% of Americans have retirement savings, with an average balance of $65,000. This is according to information released by the Federal Reserve for 2019.

How much you should have saved for retirement by age bracket is largely subjective. It’s based on your current income – assuming it’s sufficient to cover your living expenses – multiplied by a factor that’s likely to provide a sufficient amount of retirement savings by the time you reach age 65.

For example, by the time you’re 40, you should have between 1.5 and 2.5 times your current annual salary saved for retirement. But the amount you should have saved will increase with each age bracket.

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About the Author

Kevin Mercadante is a professional personal finance writer. He has extensive backgrounds in both accounting and the mortgage industry. In addition to writing for Good Financial Cents, Kevin's work can be seen on Dough Roller, Money Under 30, Investor Junkie and Wallet Hacks. He also blogs at his site, OutOfYourRut.com. Kevin and his wife live in New Hampshire.

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