October 09, 2026
For release at 10:00 a.m. EDT
WASHINGTON—The Federal Reserve Board on Friday released the comprehensive results of the 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances, a landmark periodic study that provides the public, researchers, and economic policymakers with unprecedented, detailed insights into the current financial and economic condition of American families.
The extensive data collected in the survey offer a representative, nationwide picture of what American households own, how and how much they borrow to finance their lives and investments, and how they interact with the banking system. Conducted consistently every three years since 1989, the modern iteration of the Survey of Consumer Finances has established an invaluable and extensive time series of rigorous information. This historical depth allows economists and financial analysts to track structural shifts in the economic well-being of American households across decades, capturing periods of expansion, contraction, and systemic transition.
Alongside the raw survey data, the Board issued its official summary report, titled Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2022 to 2025. This accompanying document closely examines the multi-year trajectory of American households, analyzing critical financial dimensions including shifts in household income, net worth, accumulated assets, outstanding debt burdens, and overall financial vulnerability as families navigate the modern economic landscape.
The comprehensive findings released on Friday serve as a primary empirical foundation for understanding the mechanics of consumer balance sheets in the United States. By detailing the distribution of wealth and liabilities across various demographics, the survey helps illuminate the financial resilience of consumers, shedding light on how macroeconomic pressures, monetary policy adjustments, and changing labor market conditions filter down to individual households.
To complement the written summary report and raw datasets, the Federal Reserve Board has made available an interactive chartbook. This dynamic digital tool displays changes in key financial characteristics over time, allowing observers to visualize trends and trace the evolution of family finances across successive survey cycles. Furthermore, extensive microdata and supplementary documentation examining a wide array of other economic conditions of American families are made fully available to academic researchers, policy institutions, and the general public through the central bank’s research portals.
The execution of a survey of this magnitude requires a rigorous and methodologically sound approach to data collection. The survey is conducted on behalf of the Federal Reserve Board by NORC, a premier social science research organization headquartered at the University of Chicago. To ensure that the findings accurately reflect the diverse population of the United States, participants in the study are chosen at random from 119 carefully selected geographic areas. These sampling zones encompass a diverse cross-section of metropolitan statistical areas and rural counties spread across the United States. Utilizing advanced scientific sampling procedures, the methodology is explicitly designed to produce a sample that is thoroughly representative of American families across different income brackets, geographic locations, and demographic backgrounds.
The release of these findings comes at a crucial time for policymakers in Washington and regional Federal Reserve banks, who rely heavily on empirical consumer data to evaluate the transmission of monetary policy and the overall health of the domestic economy. Understanding the distribution of assets, such as real estate, retirement accounts, and liquid savings, alongside liabilities like mortgage debt, student loans, and credit card balances, remains essential for gauging the stability of the financial sector and the consumer spending habits that drive a significant portion of economic activity.
For media inquiries regarding the 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances, interested parties may contact the Federal Reserve Board by email at [email protected] or by telephone at (202) 452-2955.
