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The Federal Reserve household report paints a picture that will feel familiar to many Americans: finances were mostly stable in 2025, but higher prices still shaped daily life. The Federal Reserve Board issued its Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2025 report on May 13, 2026, giving a wide snapshot of how U.S. adults and their families were managing money, work, and uncertainty.
There was no dramatic break in the data. Instead, the report showed a country holding its ground. Most adults said they were doing okay financially or living comfortably, emergency savings capacity was unchanged, and the labor market still looked solid even as some warning signs ticked higher.
At the same time, one newer trend stood out sharply from the usual household-finance measures: generative AI is now making a noticeable entrance into working life, with one in four workers saying they used it on the job in the prior month.
Household finances held steady in 2025
The Federal Reserve household report found that financial well-being was broadly consistent with recent years. According to the Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking, or SHED, 73% of adults said they were either doing okay financially or living comfortably.
That was unchanged from 2024, although it remained below the 78% high recorded in 2021.
Another closely watched measure also stayed flat. The share of adults who said they could cover a $400 emergency expense using cash or its equivalent held at 63%.
Why this matters is simple: these are two of the clearest signals of financial resilience in everyday life. They do not suggest a household sector in free fall. However, they also do not point to a broad improvement. For many families, 2025 appears to have been a year of staying afloat rather than getting ahead.
The report draws on the Federal Reserve’s annual SHED survey, which was fielded in October 2025. It examines financial well-being, employment, income and expenses, and housing.
Inflation stayed the top concern
Even with some easing in intensity, price pressure remained the dominant financial worry.
The Federal Reserve household report said 91% of adults viewed price increases as either a major or minor concern, making it the most common financial concern by far. That figure was unchanged.
Still, there was a modest shift in how severe people saw the problem. The share calling price increases a major concern fell to 53% from 56% in 2024.
That decline is small, but it matters. It suggests that while inflation anxiety remained widespread, some households may have felt slightly less acute stress than a year earlier. Yet with more than half of adults still calling price increases a major concern, the data also shows how deeply cost pressures remained embedded in household sentiment.
The labor market softened, but remained solid
Employment data in the SHED survey showed a labor market that was still functioning, but with more strain than in the prior year.
Concern about finding or keeping a job rose to 42% from 37% in 2024. The share of adults reporting they had been laid off edged up to 7%, compared with 6% a year earlier.
At the same time, the percentage of adults who voluntarily left a job slipped slightly to 8%.
Taken together, those numbers point to a labor market that had not broken down, but had become a bit less comfortable for workers. Rising concern about job security and a small increase in layoffs can change how households spend, save, and plan, even when broader conditions still look stable.
That is one of the report’s clearest takeaways: steady financial well-being can coexist with growing unease about work. For policymakers and employers alike, that tension is worth watching.
Generative AI is gaining ground at work
One of the most striking findings in the SHED survey had little to do with inflation or emergency savings. It was about technology.
One in four workers said they had used generative AI at work in the prior month. Among those users, 81% said the technology saves them time.
The report also found that workers who used generative AI at work were more likely to say it could improve their careers than to worry it would replace their jobs. By contrast, workers who had not used AI in the prior month saw fewer potential benefits.
This is where the Federal Reserve household report moves beyond a standard consumer-finance readout. It captures an early shift in how workers are experiencing new tools on the job, not as an abstract future issue but as part of current working life.
What the SHED survey says about daily life
A few figures stand out from the report and help show the shape of U.S. financial well-being in 2025:
- 73% of adults said they were doing okay or living comfortably financially
- 63% said they could cover a $400 emergency expense with cash or its equivalent
- 91% cited price increases as a financial concern, while 53% called them a major concern
- 42% were concerned about finding or keeping a job
- 7% reported being laid off
- One in four workers used generative AI at work, and 81% of those users said it saves time
What the Fed’s survey says about the mood of U.S. households
The report does not describe a booming consumer or a collapsing one. It describes a public that is adapting.
Households largely maintained their footing in 2025, but they did so while continuing to absorb high concern about prices and a slightly softer labor market. That combination helps explain why top-line stability can still feel uneasy on the ground.
Federal Reserve Board Governor Michael S. Barr underscored the broader purpose of the data, saying, “As we work to support a strong and vibrant economy, it’s critical for the Federal Reserve to understand the economic experiences of families and communities.” He added that the SHED provides “valuable data on how households are dealing with evolving financial opportunities and challenges.”
And that may be the report’s most revealing thread. The old pressure points, like prices and jobs, are still firmly in place. But the newest one, generative AI at work, is now showing up in the same national household survey that tracks financial stress, resilience, and confidence. That puts a fast-changing workplace technology squarely inside the Fed’s view of how Americans are living.
English (US) ·