Median Family Income Rose 7 Percent. The Share of Families Behind on Loan Payments Rose From 12.2 to 19.6.

The share of American families late on a loan payment rose from 12.2 in 2022 to 19.6 percent in 2025. That is the highest reading in the Federal Reserve's table of surveys going back to 2013. The figure comes from the Fed's 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances, released October 9. The same survey shows real median family income up 7 percent over the period, to $82,200.

Income rose in the middle and fell at the top

Median family income went from $76,900 to $82,200, in 2025 dollars. Mean income fell 6 percent to $145,200, from $155,300. The gap between those two numbers sits at the top of the distribution. Families in the top tenth of income saw mean income drop 14 percent, from $757,000 to $652,000. Exclude the top 1 percent and mean income fell only 1 percent, the report says. Families in the bottom fifth saw median income rise 4 percent, to $24,600. The Fed concludes that income inequality narrowed slightly.

The survey measures income for the calendar year before each interview, so these figures compare 2021 with 2024. Between surveys, consumer prices rose 3.6 percent a year on average, according to the report. Unemployment went from 3.7 to 4.2 percent.

Wealth went the other way

Median net worth rose 2 percent to $215,900. Mean net worth gained 7 percent, to $1.24 million. The gains went mostly to families that already had assets. Families in the top tenth of income, the group whose income fell, saw median net worth rise 31 percent to about $3.67 million. Stock ownership slipped from 58 to 56 percent of families, yet the median holding among owners grew 36 percent, to $77,400.

At the bottom, median net worth for the poorest quarter of families fell from $3,800 to $1,700. Families headed by someone under 35 went from $42,700 to $33,000, a 23 percent drop. Renters and other non-owners went from $11,400 to $10,600. Black non-Hispanic families went from $49,100 to $36,800, a 25 percent drop. Reuters reported that the group had gained about 60 percent between the 2019 and 2022 surveys. The Fed's authors write that wealth changes largely reinforced existing patterns, the reverse of what happened with income.

Debt held flat while the cost of carrying it rose

Overall debt barely moved. Seventy-seven percent of families still held some debt, and median and mean balances matched 2022. What changed was the bill. The median payment-to-income ratio for borrowers climbed from 13.4 to 15.4 percent. Total debt against income rose from 89.4 to 94.9 percent. Families spending more than 40 percent of income on debt payments went from 6.5 to 8.6 percent of the total. The same table shows 8.2 percent for 2013.

Among families with a mortgage on their primary home, the median balance rose from $170,200 to $183,600. The median credit card balance rose $150 to $3,100 for families that carry one. A buy now, pay later balance showed up at 12 percent of families, up from 7 in 2022, with a median of $400.

The case that it looks worse than it is

Borrowers look sturdier when debt is measured against what they own. The median ratio of debt to assets for borrowers fell from 29.2 to 26.9 percent as stock and home values rose. The report's authors, Fed staff economists including Aditya Aladangady and Jesse Bricker, make that point themselves. They add that families may hold that money in illiquid assets that cannot easily be drawn down to pay a loan. A home does not cover a missed card payment.

The causes are also less settled than the headline. The Fed says the higher payment burden may be related to rising mortgage and consumer loan rates. The late-payment question asks families with debt whether they fell behind at any point in the preceding year. The survey interviewed 4,367 families in 2025 and 4,602 in 2022. The published summary does not show whether families that gained and families that fell behind overlap. Reuters and the International Business Times summarized the same release. Every figure here comes from the Fed's own report unless an outlet is named.

A 7 percent rise in median income and a 61 percent relative rise in the late-payment rate are both in the same document. The Fed repeats the survey every three years, so the next reading arrives around 2028 if the schedule holds.