A large majority of U.S. adults—77%—reported feeling financially insecure in a May survey conducted by Bankrate, highlighting a continued rise in financial unease dating back to 2023 and presenting potential challenges for employers as they shape compensation strategies.
More than one-quarter of the 2,260 respondents said they would need to earn $150,000 or more annually to feel financially secure and comfortable. That figure is nearly double the average full-time salary in the U.S. for 2023, which was $81,515, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics cited by Bankrate.
The company pointed to inflation's ongoing erosion of purchasing power, referencing consumer price index data from the BLS, which showed that $100,000 in January 2020 had the same buying power as $124,353 in April 2025.
“Getting rich may have once been what many Americans fantasized about,” said Sarah Foster, U.S. economy reporter at Bankrate. “But now, simply living comfortably feels like the new aspiration, as economic challenges make financial stability a rare luxury.”
The survey also revealed a sense of long-term pessimism. Nearly one-third of respondents said they do not feel financially secure and believe they never will be—a notable increase from past years. Only 29% said achieving their version of the “American Dream” still seemed possible based on current economic conditions.
By generation, Generation X respondents were the most likely to report feeling financially insecure, followed by Generation Z, millennials, and then baby boomers. Among gender differences, 35% of women said they don’t feel financially secure and likely never will be, compared to 29% of men. The percentage of women who reported feeling secure has declined more sharply since 2023 than it has among men.
“Though many Americans hold onto the idea of returning to a 1950s-era ‘Golden’ America age,” Foster added, “the days when a single, non-college educated breadwinner could sustain an entire family seem like they may be confined forever to the past.”
Additional findings from a 2024 PNC Bank survey showed that 3 in 5 U.S. workers say they are living paycheck to paycheck, and nearly one-third said they would prefer early access to their earnings.
Meanwhile, in a companion survey of employers, 78% reported that their workers are financially stressed.
