Economy & Household Finance
Federal Reserve Survey Finds Higher Median Income—and More Families Under Debt Strain
The 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances shows broad gains in income and wealth alongside a rise in households carrying heavy payment burdens.
A detailed picture of family finances
The Federal Reserve released its 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances on Friday, providing the government’s most comprehensive recurring look at household income, wealth, assets and debt. Conducted every three years, the survey uses a representative sample and specialized methods to capture both typical families and the highly concentrated top of the wealth distribution. The results describe changes from 2022 through 2025; they are not a real-time measure of conditions in October 2026.
Median income rose while the mean fell
Real median family income increased 7 percent to $82,200, while real mean income declined 6 percent to $145,200. The difference matters. A median identifies the family in the middle, while a mean is more affected by extremely high incomes. Together the measures suggest improvement for a broad middle alongside declines at the upper end of the distribution. They do not show that every group or household experienced gains, and national figures can conceal large regional cost differences.
Net worth continued to grow
Real median net worth rose 2 percent to $215,900, and mean net worth increased 7 percent to $1.24 million. Homeownership remained near 66 percent. Among owners, median net housing value climbed to $230,000 from $218,900 in 2022. Rising home equity can strengthen a balance sheet without providing cash for daily expenses. Renters do not receive that gain, and owners with low fixed-rate mortgages may experience the housing market differently from families trying to buy at current borrowing costs.
Market participation became slightly narrower
The share of families holding stock directly or indirectly declined from 58 percent to 56 percent. Among those with stock, median holdings rose 36 percent to $77,400. Retirement-plan participation edged up to about 65 percent. These results show why market rallies affect households unevenly: gains can be large for participants while offering no direct benefit to families without accounts. The survey’s definitions include retirement and indirect holdings, so stock ownership does not necessarily mean frequent trading or individual-company shares.
Debt burdens are the warning sign
About 77 percent of families had some debt, little changed from 2022, and typical debt balances were broadly stable. Yet the share with debt payments exceeding 40 percent of income climbed from 6.5 percent to 8.6 percent, a level last seen in the 2013 survey. That measure identifies vulnerability rather than inevitable default. Families with high payment ratios have less room for a job loss, medical expense or price shock, making the distribution of debt as important as the national total.
How policymakers should use the findings
The survey can inform debates over housing supply, retirement access, consumer credit and emergency savings, but it should not be reduced to a single verdict. Median gains coexist with concentrated wealth and rising payment stress. Researchers must also use the Federal Reserve’s replicate weights and multiple-imputation procedures to calculate uncertainty correctly. The Board released public data, documentation and an interactive chartbook, allowing independent analysis. The most useful policy work will identify which families drove each change and distinguish durable balance-sheet improvement from gains exposed to asset prices.
Reporting note: This article draws on public records and verified reporting; material claims are attributed in the text.