The paycheck to paycheck meme is a staple of America’s doomerism media. The figures are largely the same every year – every year, the media piles onto the gloom as if somehow this is worse than the past – but it is not any worse.
In addition to being the same, there is no definition of what “paycheck to paycheck” means. One survey found that 82% of those living “paycheck to paycheck” said they had a “comfortable life”, for example.
June 2025
2023
As of June, 61% of adults are living paycheck to paycheck, according to a LendingClub report.
2022
Data from 2020 through 2022 found that between 50% and 63% of Americans report living paycheck to paycheck.
PolitiFact | Though many Americans live paycheck to paycheck, some posts inflate the stat
2017
Virtually half, or 49 percent, of all Americans are still living paycheck-to-paycheck.
2007
- It’s the same story every year: Associated Press, October 20, 2007: Living paycheck to paycheck gets harder – Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity
- It is largely a lie, and they know it: Fact Check: Is there a consensus that a majority of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck? | Econofact
- Do the majority of Americans live paycheck to paycheck? : r/AskEconomics
- Why even Americans making more than $100,000 live paycheck to paycheck
