Personal Saving Rate Was 4.1% in August 2026, Down From 4.6%
The U.S. personal saving rate was 4.1% in August 2026, down from 4.6% in July 2026. Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis data retrieved via FRED (PSAVERT). Bankrate survey results and the Bank of America Institute sample estimate are updated with their releases.
What Is the Current U.S. Personal Savings Rate?
The personal saving rate is the share of after-tax income left over after spending, interest and other payments, across the whole country. In August 2026 it was 4.1%, according to U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis data retrieved via FRED (PSAVERT). Compared with a year earlier, it was down from 5.2% in August 2025. BEA revises recent months with each release, so the newest month is provisional.
It's a national figure: total personal saving divided by total disposable personal income. It isn't money sitting in bank accounts, and it isn't a share of anyone's paycheck. From 2015 through 2019 the rate averaged 6.1%. Its highest month in 2020 and 2021 was April 2020, at 31.8%. The saving rate feeds the Safety Net & Buffer domain of the American Distress Index, which currently reads 47.0 (Typical). The composite itself sits higher than 44% of all published quarters since 2005.
Key Savings Rate Statistics at a Glance
The personal saving rate is the input to the index's Safety Net & Buffer domain (20.0% composite weight). It measures a national flow of saving, not account balances, household capacity, or a countdown to later delinquency. Current indicator-pair research reports only relationships that hold up when tested; it does not read a lead from one domain to another off the composite.
How Does the Current Savings Rate Compare to History?
BEA's monthly series starts in 1959. Its lowest monthly reading from 2005 through 2008 was 1.4%. From 2015 through 2019 it averaged 6.1%, and in April 2020 it was 31.8%. The chart shows every month. The national series doesn't say which households saved more or less, or why.
U.S. Personal Savings Rate (%)
Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis data retrieved via FRED (PSAVERT). Personal Saving Rate, monthly, seasonally adjusted, 1959–present.
What Has the Savings Rate Done Since 2022?
The chart shows every month since January 2022, all from the same BEA release. The series measures current saving as a share of disposable personal income. It doesn't show whether households drew down money saved earlier, and a move of a few tenths of a point can be revised away.
Personal Savings Rate, 2022–Present (%)
Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis data retrieved via FRED (PSAVERT). Monthly, seasonally adjusted.
Why Does a Low Savings Rate Matter?
The headline saving rate is one national percentage of disposable income saved rather than spent. It can't show how saving is spread across households. The measures below answer narrower questions, and none of them is a direct measure of account balances.
Separate Household Measures
These surveys and plan records answer narrower questions than the aggregate saving rate:
- 30% of U.S. adults said they would use savings to pay a $1,000 emergency (Bankrate, 2026 report). Bankrate changed its answer options and polling method in the 2026 report, so this reading isn't compared with earlier years.
- Bank of America Institute estimated that nearly 24% of households in its eligible checking-account sample had necessary spending above 95% of income in 2025 (data through the third quarter), up 0.3 percentage points from 2024 in the same report.
- 6% of participants in Vanguard-administered plans that offer the option took a hardship withdrawal in 2025, up from 5% in 2024. Vanguard notes that plan design, easier administration and rule changes, not only household strain, have pushed the rate higher.
The aggregate saving rate and these household-level measures answer different questions. Bankrate records one stated payment choice; Bank of America Institute measures spending relative to income; and Vanguard records hardship withdrawals. None is a direct substitute for household cash balances.
How Do Savings Indicators Compare?
Four separate measurements give different household-finance context. PSAVERT tracks a national flow. Bankrate asks U.S. adults which one option best describes how they would deal with an unexpected expense of about $1,000. Bank of America Institute estimates a spending-to-income threshold using an eligible checking-account sample and observed payment channels. Vanguard tracks hardship withdrawals among participants whose plans offer the option.
| Indicator | Current | Reference | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal savings rate (PSAVERT) | 4.1% | 6.1% (2015–2019 avg) | U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis data retrieved via FRED (PSAVERT) |
| Would use savings for a $1,000 emergency | 30% | Not comparable: Bankrate changed its answer options and polling method in 2026 | Bankrate Emergency Savings Report |
| Eligible sample estimated above 95% necessary-spending threshold | 24% | N/A (earlier years are read from the report's chart) | Bank of America Institute sample |
| 401(k) hardship withdrawal rate | 6% | 5% (2024) | Vanguard How America Saves |
Aggregate flow data (PSAVERT), survey responses, a noncomprehensive Bank of America-observed banking-data sample, and plan records answer different questions. The table does not treat any one measure as a direct proxy for household cash balances.
See also: Hardship Withdrawal Statistics and Household Financial Health.
Savings Rate: Recent Monthly Data
| Month | Savings Rate | Year-Over-Year Change (percentage points) |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 5.1% | -0.6 |
| Oct 2025 | 4.9% | -0.9 |
| Nov 2025 | 4.9% | -0.8 |
| Dec 2025 | 5.0% | -0.1 |
| Jan 2026 | 5.6% | -0.1 |
| Feb 2026 | 5.3% | -0.4 |
| Mar 2026 | 5.1% | -0.6 |
| Apr 2026 | 4.4% | -1.8 |
| May 2026 | 4.4% | -1.3 |
| Jun 2026 | 4.4% | -1.1 |
| Jul 2026 | 4.6% | -0.7 |
| Aug 2026 | 4.1% | -1.1 |
Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis data retrieved via FRED (PSAVERT). Monthly, seasonally adjusted, released about a month after the reference month. BEA revises recent months with each release, so the newest month is provisional.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the current U.S. personal savings rate?
The personal saving rate was 4.1% in August 2026, down from 4.6% in July 2026. Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis data retrieved via FRED (PSAVERT). BEA revises recent months with each release, so the newest month is provisional.
What was the savings rate before the pandemic?
From 2015 through 2019 the rate averaged 6.1% in the current BEA series. Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis data retrieved via FRED (PSAVERT). BEA restates history at its annual and comprehensive updates, so quote any older year from the current series rather than from an old article. The rate is a national ratio; it doesn't describe what any one household saved.
What did the saving-rate series show in the stimulus era?
The highest month in 2020 and 2021 was April 2020, at 31.8%. Those two years included direct stimulus payments and enhanced unemployment benefits. PSAVERT is a flow rate; it does not measure a household-level stockpile or show whether any such stockpile has since been spent.
Why does the savings rate matter for household distress?
The saving rate measures how much disposable income remains after personal outlays across the country. A lower rate can leave less room to absorb income shocks, but it does not by itself forecast when delinquency will rise. Our research reports a relationship only for individual pairs of measures that hold up when tested.
Where does savings rate data come from?
The canonical series is the Personal Saving Rate (PSAVERT). Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis data retrieved via FRED (PSAVERT). It is published monthly as part of the National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA) and measures personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income, seasonally adjusted. Survey data on emergency expenses comes from Bankrate's annual Emergency Savings Report; paycheck-to-paycheck estimates from a Bank of America Institute eligible checking-account sample; and hardship withdrawal data from Vanguard's How America Saves annual report.
Data Sources and Methodology
BEA Personal Saving Rate (PSAVERT)
Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis data retrieved via FRED (PSAVERT). Monthly, seasonally adjusted measure of personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income from the National Income and Product Accounts. The personal sector includes nonprofits serving households as well as households. Changes are in percentage points.
Bankrate Emergency Savings Report
Annual national poll asking U.S. adults which one option best describes how they would deal with an unexpected expense of about $1,000. This page tracks the share who choose savings. Each edition is labelled by its report year and fielded mostly in the December before. The 2026 edition used a YouGov online panel and added a new answer option; earlier editions were run by SSRS.
Vanguard How America Saves
Annual report based on Vanguard's defined-contribution recordkeeping data. The hardship withdrawal rate measures the share of participants offered a hardship-withdrawal option who took at least one during the calendar year.
Bank of America Institute Sample
The estimate appears to use households treating Bank of America as their primary bank, with a U.S. checking account for at least 12 months, and Bank of America-observed channels such as ACH, cards, and bill pay. Partial banking relationships and spending outside those channels make the data noncomprehensive and potentially selective.