Nearly 1 in 4 American households living paycheck to paycheck, report reveals

Nearly a quarter of all U.S. households are living paycheck to paycheck and the number has risen over the last year, though the rate of growth has slowed, according to a new report.The Bank of America Institute report found that almost 24% of households would be classified as living paycheck to paycheck so far in 2025, an increase of 0.3 percentage points from 2024 – although the growth rate is nearly three times lower than it was a year ago.It defines living paycheck to paycheck as households spending over 95% of their income on necessities like housing, groceries, gas, utilities, internet pl