Each year, the U.S. News money team conducts regular surveys focusing on a range of financial topics. These surveys help inform our reporting and gauge the financial health, habits and attitudes of Americans from year to year.
We ask savers to reveal their emergency fund balance. We ask homebuyers what mortgage rate they’re waiting for. We ask engaged couples how they’re paying for their wedding.
We’re downright nosy. And while America’s responses to some of our questions simply confirm what we already suspected, others generate a stronger reaction. It’s those answers that tell a larger story, signal a shift in sentiment or simply catch us completely by surprise.
As 2025 comes to a close, our analysts went back through a year’s worth of surveys and selected a half-dozen responses that jumped out at us.
49% of Women Don’t Have an Emergency Fund
Survey:Financial Wellness Survey
Why it stood out: It wasn’t until the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974 that women were guaranteed the right to open a bank account without a male cosigner under federal law. In the five decades since then, women have made great strides when it comes to financial independence, but inequality is still present in the data. Nearly half of women don’t have an emergency savings fund, while just over a third of men (36%) said the same. Women also have lower balances in their emergency fund compared with men, at $6,500 versus $11,000.
– Erika Giovanetti, U.S. News Consumer Lending Analyst
[See: Best High-Yield Savings Accounts: Up to 4.57% APY]
71% of Americans Feel Like They’re Living Paycheck to Paycheck
Survey:Holiday Shopping Survey
Why it stood out: This was extremely telling because no matter the income level, Americans overwhelmingly feel like they live paycheck to paycheck. From under $20,000 to over $110,000 in household income, Americans are struggling.
And that percentage has been steadily increasing over the years. In 2023, roughly 53% of Americans felt they were living paycheck to paycheck. In 2024, that number was 65%. Now at 71%, Americans are at their wit’s ends.
– Adriana Ocañas, U.S. News Consumer Credit Cards Analyst
30% of Sports Bettors Have Debts They Attribute to Gambling
Survey:Sports Betting and Debt Survey
Why it stood out: Our first survey examining the finances of the nation’s sports bettors showed that nearly a third of them owe money due to wagers they’ve made. Of those who had racked up debt, about 30% owed $1,000 or more.
Because sports betting has only been widely available in the U.S. for less than a decade and few studies have looked into how bettors have been bankrolling their wagers, I didn’t know what to expect here. However, this number was considerably higher than I anticipated. But it was also the type of borrowing being done that caught my eye. Nearly 12% of all survey respondents said they funded bets with payday loans, which come with notoriously high interest rates.
– Greg Garrison, Consumer Banking Analyst
55% of Recent Homebuyers Think the Federal Reserve Sets Mortgage Rates, Which Isn’t True
Survey:Mortgage Refinancing Survey
Why it stood out: Those who bought a home in the past year have a bone to pick with the central bank — 83% believe the Fed kept interest rates high for too long — but their anger may be misguided. Fed policymakers set the federal funds rate, which is an overnight financing rate and has a minimal impact on long-term mortgage rates. Mortgage rates more closely follow the yield on 10-year Treasury bonds, which are influenced by a wide range of factors, like inflation and employment growth. In other words, even those who have a mortgage believe misconceptions about the interest rates they pay.
– Erika Giovanetti
[Read: Best Mortgage Lenders]
35% of College Students Say They Might Cut Back on Schooling Due to Student Loan Changes
Survey:Student Loans Survey
Why it stood out: One month after the One Big Beautiful Bill Act was signed into law, we asked college students how the impending major changes to the federal student loans program might impact their future plans. (Starting July 1, 2026, tighter caps will be placed on the amount parents and graduate students can borrow, and repayment plans will be less forgiving.)
Sure, it may be unreasonable to expect respondents to have fully digested the new regulations so quickly and calculated how the changes could alter their plans. But I think this particular response suggests that a shift may be coming, with students potentially re-evaluating the educational path they take if they can’t access the funds needed to pay for it. And this survey certainly won’t assuage the fears of many universities, which are worried about enrollment declines.
College guidance counselors and private lenders say college officials have been brainstorming creative solutions that could help more prospective students qualify for the private student loans they may now need to bridge the financing gap.
– Greg Garrison
[Read: Best Private Student Loans.]
53% of Americans Think Carrying a Balance on a Credit Card Boosts Their Credit Score, Which Isn’t True
Survey:Financial Literacy Survey
Why it stood out: We asked respondents if carrying a balance on their credit card boosts their credit score. Over half said yes, under the mistaken belief that “it shows you’re using your credit.” What’s more, when we sorted responses by age, only the 55-and-over group had more than half correctly saying that carrying a balance could actually lower your score.
I didn’t expect such a high percentage of respondents would get this answer wrong. It’s understandable that some consumers will think this, but over half was surprising. This data tells the story of inadequate financial literacy resources for Americans. Too often, financial advice is given anecdotally, giving way to the blind leading the blind.
– Adriana Ocañas
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U.S. News Money Surveys 2025: 6 Responses That Caught Our Eye originally appeared on usnews.com
