Achieving nearly any financial goal, from saving for retirement to buying a car, comes down to spending less than you earn.

In recent years, that's become especially difficult for consumers as prices for essentials like rent and groceries have grown faster than wages can keep up. As a result, the share of Americans saying they live paycheck to paycheck has been growing fairly steadily for the past two years, a recent Bank of America survey found. 

Nearly half of Americans at least somewhat agree with the statement, "I am living paycheck to paycheck," as of the third quarter of 2024. The share shrank slightly between the second and third quarters of this year, but in 2022, less than 40% of Americans felt this way, Bank of America reports.

Importantly, how each respondent defines living paycheck to paycheck may vary. So, for the purposes of the study, Bank of America set a threshold — households spending at least 90% of their income on necessities could be considered living paycheck to paycheck.

By that measure, around 30% of American households are living paycheck to paycheck, according to Bank of America's internal data. Further, 26% of households spend 95% or more of their income on necessities, the bank reports.

It's worth noting that not all transactions were captured in the data, which only tracked post-deduction incomes and funds kept in Bank of America accounts. However, it still highlights discord among Americans in the ways they see themselves and their financial situations.

'Perceptions can sometimes deviate from reality'

The disparity between the share of people who say they live paycheck to paycheck and those who do by Bank of America's estimates can be attributed in part to differing definitions of what "paycheck to paycheck" means. 

"I suspect people have a slightly broader perception themselves," says David Tinsley, senior economist at Bank of America Institute and author of the report.

Someone who works a decent-paying, full-time job may go out to dinner a couple of times a month, for example, bringing their total monthly spending closer to their income. Technically it's not a necessity, but it isn't an egregious splurge either. If it becomes unaffordable, that person may feel like they're living paycheck to paycheck, Tinsley says. 

The same goes for saving for emergencies or retirement, which may be viewed as a necessity to some, but a luxury to others.

"Perceptions can sometimes deviate from reality, but I think also people's aspirations go a bit further than just being able to survive," Tinsley says.

Who has room to cut back?

As you might expect, the share of households living paycheck to paycheck is highest among the lowest earners. About 35% of households earning less than $50,000 a year have necessary spending in excess of 95% of their incomes, compared with a little over 20% of households earning between $75,000 and $100,000 a year, Bank of America finds.

But earning a low income doesn't inherently cause those households to live paycheck to paycheck. Higher expenses seem to be a bigger reason households are strapped for cash each month, the report finds.

About 20% of households earning more than $150,000 a year spend over 95% of their income on necessities, according to Bank of America's analysis. Part of this may be due to the fact that higher-earning families are more likely to have larger homes and more expensive cars, leading to higher monthly costs, Tinsley says. 

In fact, the data shows that, on average, households living paycheck to paycheck spend about 90% more on necessities than those living comfortably, but their incomes are only 20% smaller.

This can be due to a myriad of reasons, such as family size or geography. But while lower-income households with too-high essential costs may not have access to more affordable options, higher-earning households likely have more room to cut expenses and recalibrate their spending, Tinsley says.

"For people at the low end [of income] distribution, almost certainly they're not going to be able to cut back on their groceries, and they probably can't move to a more affordable area," he says.

However, "there's probably an element at the top end [of the income spectrum] where there may be a little bit more flexibility in terms of those [spending] choices that people are making."

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