The Federal Reserve's latest household survey found that most US families earned more and grew wealth from 2022 to 2025. Yet, gains largely favored those already affluent. Inflation-adjusted median family income rose 7% to USD 82,200, while median net worth increased just 2% to USD 215,900. Meanwhile, the poorest households lost more than half their median net worth as debt pressures intensified.
The Survey of Consumer Finances covered about 4,300 families nationwide as the US economy moved beyond pandemic turmoil. According to Reuters, the Fed found that moderate economic growth and persistent inflation left more households facing financial strain.
Income gains differed sharply across the earnings scale. The bottom 60% of families recorded inflation-adjusted increases of 4% to 7%. In contrast, the top 10% of earners saw their real income fall 6%.
Strong demand for workers helped lower-paid households after the pandemic. Employers competing for staff in healthcare, restaurants, and other in-person services raised wages and offered bonuses.
Despite those improvements, higher pay did not translate into larger financial cushions for the poorest families. Median net worth for the bottom quarter dropped from USD 3,800 in 2022 to USD 1,700 in 2025. This represented a decline exceeding 50%.
Wealth changes also differed considerably across demographic groups. Median wealth for Black families fell 25% between 2022 and 2025. That reversed part of the 60% increase recorded between 2019 and 2022.
Meanwhile, families headed by someone older than 75 posted wealth gains of 37%. Overall, the survey showed larger gains among households that were already wealthy, older, better educated, or higher-earning.
The Fed said these differences reinforced existing wealth gaps. The generational divide also accompanied slower household formation and homebuying among younger families.
Homeownership remained near 66%, while stock market participation slipped from 58% in 2022 to 56% in 2025. The period also featured substantial stock market gains following the pandemic's sharp market swings.
Nevertheless, overall real median family wealth grew only 2%, far slower than the gains recorded during the pandemic-era surge.
Read More: Consumers Brace for Higher Prices as Inflation Expectations Rise
Although household debt remained broadly stable, financial pressure increased for some families. Household debt relative to assets declined, but median debt payments consumed 15.4% of income, up two percentage points from 2022.
At the same time, total debt relative to income climbed from 89.4% to 94.9%. The share of households spending over 40% of their income on debt payments increased from 6.5% to 8.6%. That marked the highest reading since 2013.
Payment difficulties also became more common. According to the Fed, the share of families behind on loan payments increased from about 12% to nearly 20%.
Furthermore, more families turned to buy-now, pay-later services, with participation climbing from 7% to 12%. Reuters reported that consumer spending remained resilient despite growing signs of household financial strain.
Separately, Wall Street closed higher Friday. The Dow gained 0.8%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each advanced approximately 0.6%.
The Fed survey showed uneven financial gains across US households following the pandemic. While median income and wealth increased, poorer families faced shrinking assets and mounting debt pressure. Older and wealthier households recorded stronger gains, while rising missed payments revealed growing financial strain despite broader economic improvements.