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The personal saving rate in the US is 3.5% for July, down from 4.3% in June(1). It’s a far cry from the highs the country saw at the height of Covid, when people were saving 33.8% of their disposable income in April 2020(2).
Historic US saving rate
Through the 12 months leading up to June 2023, Americans are saving roughly 3.9% of their disposable income. This is a long way off from the pandemic highs of 16.8% in 2020 and 11.8% in 2021. It’s also about a third of the average personal saving rate since 1959, which sits at 8.8%.
The percentage that people are saving from their disposable income neared historic lows in 2022 and is only doing slightly better in 2023. Americans are saving an average of roughly 4.3% of their disposable income through July 2023. The lowest annual savings rate since 1959 was 2005’s personal saving rate of 2.9%.
The US saw its highest personal saving rate during the pandemic, when people squirrel away about 17% of their disposable incomes in 2020. In fact, outside of the two pandemic-impacted years of 2021 and 2021, the remaining highest personal saving rate years were all between 1967 and 1982.
10 lowest personal saving rates since 1959
While we’ve got a ways to go before 2023 is in the books, if we were to put 2023 into the books today it would be the fifth-lowest savings rate in the past 64 years. As it stands, all of the 10 worst personal savings rate years occurred since 1999, with 2005 the worst savings year on record at 2.9%.
Personal saving rate by decade
The 1970s were the most prosperous in terms of what Americans were able to save, the personal saving rate for the 1970s hitting an average of 12.2%. Those trying to save during the 2000s weren’t able to put away even half of that at an average personal saving rate of just 4.6%.
How do these rates translate to dollars? The average annual disposable income was $2,036 back in 1959, when an annual personal saving rate of around 10.3% meant Americans were saving an average of $210. Fast-forward to 2022, when America’s average disposable income was $55,781 — $2,059 was tucked away at an average personal saving rate of 3.7%.
While rough averages, rates appear to line up with the Federal Reserve’s most recent Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF)(3) in 2019, which found the average American had an account balance of $5,300.
What is the personal saving rate?
The US Bureau of Economic Analysis defines the personal saving rate as the percentage of disposable personal income — also called after-tax income — that people save. It’s the amount of a person’s income left over after spending money — say, on bills or loans — and paying taxes. Economists watch the personal saving rate to learn about the financial health of Americans and predict consumer behavior and economic growth. Additionally, Finder’s Consumer Confidence Index found that the average American is saving an average $670 a month, which comes out to roughly $8,041 per year(4).
Richard Laycock is Finder’s NYC-based senior content marketing manager & insights editor, spending the last decade data diving, writing and editing articles about all things personal finance. His musings can be found across the web including on NASDAQ, MoneyMag, Yahoo Finance and Travel Weekly. Richard studied Media at Macquarie University, including a semester abroad at The Missouri School of Journalism (MIZZOU).
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