Key Takeaways
-
The median U.S. household cash balance fell 6% from 2022 to 2025, after adjusting for inflation.
-
Cash balances generally rise with age, with households headed by someone 75 or older holding the most.
-
Couples have considerably more cash than singles, while college graduates hold far more than those with less education.
American households overall have never been richer on paper, yet the typical family's bank balance is shrinking.
According to the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), released earlier this month, the median net worth of U.S. households edged up 2% from 2022 to 2025, to more than $215,000. Yet the median family with a checking, savings, or similar account had a combined balance of about $8,200 in 2025. That's 6% less than the $8,755 median balance they had three years earlier, after adjusting for inflation.
Nearly every family, 99%, has at least one cash account. The Federal Reserve counts checking, savings, money market, and brokerage cash accounts, along with prepaid debit cards, as one category. Certificates of deposit and retirement accounts fall into other categories.
There's a wide spread, though, among different types of accou...