vs Last Month
−0.10 pts
Slow drift lower.
Personal Savings Rate
U.S. Households · Monthly BEA
3.80%
-0.10 pts vs. last month
Past 12 monthsRange 3.70 – 4.50
vs Last Year-0.60
5-Yr Avg6.80%
2020 Peak33.8%
The savings rate dipped to 3.80% — below the historical average. The accumulated COVID-era "excess savings" has been largely spent down, leaving households more exposed to job loss or unexpected expenses.
Historical trend
Monthly BEA release.
Source: FRED · PSAVERT
The long view: since 1959
From 14% in the 1970s to today's sub-4%.
Peak 33.8% · April 2020Pre-2020 Low 2.9% · 2008Today 3.80%
How today stacks up
vs Last Year
−0.60 pts
Direction concerning.
5-Yr Avg
6.80%
Skewed by 2020 surge.
Pre-COVID Norm
~7%
2017–19 average.
Use this data
Tools to build savings.
About the Personal Savings Rate
The Personal Savings Rate is the share of disposable personal income that U.S. households save rather than spend. It's calculated monthly by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) as part of the Personal Income and Outlays report. Today's 3.80% means the average household saves about $380 out of every $10,000 of after-tax income — and spends the other $9,620.
The long historical decline
U.S. savings rates have been on a multi-decade downward trend. Households saved ~14% of income in the 1970s and around 9% in the 1980s. By 2005, the rate had fallen to around 3% — the lowest since the Great Depression. Reasons cited include: home equity feeling like savings (until 2008), easier consumer credit, lower interest rates reducing the return on saving, and changes in pension/401(k) accounting (employer 401k contributions don't show up in this number).
The pandemic anomaly
April 2020 saw an unprecedented 33.8% savings rate — Americans suddenly couldn't spend (lockdowns) while stimulus checks boosted income. The accumulated "excess savings" of $2.5 trillion during 2020–21 was a huge tailwind for the 2022–24 consumer boom. By 2024, those excess savings had been largely spent down. Today's rate of 3.80% is below the long-run average and likely reflects high cost of living catching up to wage growth.
Related trackers
Other live numbers that move with — or against — this one.
Frequently asked
What this number means, and what it doesn't.
Partial. Employee 401(k) contributions ARE counted as savings. Employer 401(k) match is NOT (because it's not income to the household yet — it's in deferred-compensation accounting). This means the published rate understates total household saving by ~1–2pp.
Low savings rates make households more vulnerable to job loss or unexpected expenses. They also constrain future consumption growth (you can't spend money you didn't save). A persistently low savings rate is a fragility indicator for the consumer economy.
Briefly yes, then largely no. The 2020 spike to 33.8% was forced (couldn't spend during lockdowns). By 2022, savings rate had fallen below pre-pandemic levels. The accumulated "excess savings" of 2020–21 was largely spent down by mid-2024.
Higher savings rates are generally good for financial stability and household resilience. But the Fed doesn\'t target this number directly — it\'s an outcome, not a policy tool. When savings rates rise during recessions, the Fed worries about insufficient consumer spending. When they fall sharply, the Fed worries about household financial stress.
Methodology
Source
Pulled from FRED · PSAVERT and cached on the EvvyTools server.
Update schedule
Refreshed automatically by our cron whenever the upstream source publishes a new value. Historical values are not revised after publication.
How we compute
Display value is the raw published number, unrounded. Comparison stats use the closest available reference date. We never edit the underlying data.