US families’ real median income rose 7 percent between 2022 and 2025, while their real median net worth increased 2 percent. The Federal Reserve’s new survey also found more families devoting over 40 percent of their income to debt payments. Growing wealth therefore coincided with heavier payment pressure for part of the population, rather than uniformly easier household finances.
The Federal Reserve, the US central bank, released its 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances on 9 October. Real median family income increased 7 percent between 2022 and 2025, while real mean income fell 6 percent. Families toward the lower ends of the income and wealth distributions recorded modest gains in median and mean income; those toward the upper ends saw declines. The figures compare the two survey years after inflation adjustments.[1], [2]
The share of families whose debt payments exceeded 40 percent of income rose from 6.5 percent to 8.6 percent, returning to a level last seen in the 2013 survey. About 77 percent of families held some form of debt. Families reporting late loan payments increased from about 12 percent to nearly 20 percent; more than 8 percent were at least two months late, compared with 5 percent in 2022.[1], [2]
Real median net worth increased 2 percent to 215,900 dollars, while homeownership remained around 66 percent. Net worth measures assets after debts are deducted. The survey examines income, wealth, assets and borrowing together. Conducted every three years since 1989, it provides a recurring picture of family finances; the latest results describe conditions in 2025 and changes since 2022, rather than households’ current monthly cash flows.[1]
