The Federal Reserve’s annual household survey found that Americans were mostly satisfied last year with their personal finances, but their perceptions of the national economy worsened.
The Federal Reserve Board issued its Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2025 report on Wednesday, drawn from the annual Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking. It was fielded in October, before the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran caused a surge in oil and gas prices this year.
For the first time, the adoption of generative AI at work was included in the survey.
One in four workers used generative AI on the job, with those with graduate degrees more than four times as likely to use AI as those with a high school diploma.
AI users who said it saves them time made up 81%, and those who used the artificial tool were more likely to expect career benefits than to fear job replacement.
Price increases last fall remained the most common financial concern, but favorable perceptions of people’s local economy and the national economy declined and remained much more pessimistic than before the COVID-19 pandemic.
About one-fourth of adults rated the national economy as “good” or “excellent,” down 3 points from 2024 and 24 points from 2019, even as personal financial assessments remained relatively stable, showcasing a perception-versus-reality gap.
The share of adults either doing well financially or living comfortably held steady in 2025, but declined among several demographic groups, including low-income, young people and Black adults.
A large majority of U.S. adults said last fall they were doing alright or satisfied financially, at 73%, consistent with 2024. It was, however, below the overall high of 78% in 2021 and the lowest since pre-pandemic levels, at 74% in 2017.
Prices held steady as the most common financial concern among U.S. adults last year, with just over 9 in 10 adults citing it as either a major or minor concern, unchanged from 2024.
Those who viewed price increases as a major concern represented 53%, while 58% of adults said price changes over the past year had made their financial situation worse — down from 60% in 2024 and 65% in 2023.
Worries about finding or keeping a job became more common in 2025, hitting 42%, up 5% from the previous year.
