2025 Savings Report

We’re a few months into the year; have you checked in on your savings? Two in 5 Americans (40%) have at least one savings goal for 2025, according to a new NerdWallet survey. And if you’re one of them, it’s probably a good time to evaluate your progress and consider whether you’re saving enough to meet your goals.

The survey, commissioned by NerdWallet and conducted online by The Harris Poll, asked more than 2,000 Americans what they’re saving for. We also asked employed Americans how much of their take-home pay they’re saving, and Americans with savings accounts how they approach saving money.

Key findings

• Employed Americans report saving 23% of their take-home pay, on average, in a bank account in a typical month. But nearly a quarter of employed Americans (23%) aren’t sure how much they’re saving, and 10% aren’t regularly saving anything.

• A majority of Americans (86%) have savings accounts. The most popular approach among them is transferring money from checking to savings accounts at random intervals as they have extra money (43%).

• Most Americans (82%) are actively saving in a bank account for a future expense, like an emergency fund (46%) or vacations (33%).

“Our data indicate that some Americans are, for the most part, diligent savers — but in many cases, there’s room for improvement in how and why they save,” says Sam Taube, an investing writer and spokesperson for NerdWallet.

“Automated transfers, for example, may provide a more disciplined and predictable approach to saving than random transfers, and sinking funds can be useful for preparing for hard-to-predict expenses.”

Working Americans save 23% of their pay, on average

The survey finds that employed Americans say they save 23% of their take-home pay, on average, in a bank account in a typical month. (The median savings is lower at 15%.) But many working Americans are saving less than this, or nothing at all.

Nearly 2 in 5 employed Americans (39%) say they save less than 20% — with 29% saving between 1-19% of their take home pay and 10% not regularly saving any money in a bank account. Another 23% of employed Americans aren’t sure how much they save in a typical month.

Try to save 1% more

If you want to save more but it feels impossible, try to increase your savings by just 1%. So if you’re saving 10%, save 11%. If you aren’t saving anything, save 1%. It seems like such a small amount of money, but it adds up.

Let’s say you take home $3,000 a month. Saving 1% more is $30 a month, or $360 a year. It’s not a ton of money, but it could be enough to cover a minor home or car repair. In three years, you would have more than $1,000 saved, which could be a bigger repair or a weekend getaway, depending on your savings goal. And if you have a high-yield savings account, this money can grow even faster.

“Over the last few years of high inflation, the cost of living has increased, but the median household income in the U.S. has increased as well,” Taube says. “Both of these provide a good reason to incrementally increase the amount you save each year, even if you’re just increasing your contributions by 1% annually.”

Some save money manually, others automate

There are several ways to approach saving money, whether you opt to be hands-on or automate. The most popular method among Americans with savings accounts is transferring money as funds are available, according to the survey.

Of Americans with savings accounts, more than 2 in 5 (43%) say they transfer money from their checking account to their savings account at random intervals as they have extra money. And a third of Americans with savings accounts (33%) say they put at least some money from any financial windfalls into their savings account.

A quarter of Americans with savings accounts (25%) have money directly deposited into their savings account from their paycheck. This likely means it bypasses their checking account altogether, which could be a good move for those who are more likely to save money that’s out of sight and mind.

Consider automating savings

Any method you use to squirrel away money is better than not saving. However, if you’re currently opting to save whatever is left over in checking after you get paid again — like 21% of Americans with savings accounts — and find you aren’t saving as much as you want, it might be worth reevaluating.

“Pay yourself first”, or reverse budgeting, means you save a certain amount from your pay and then spend the rest on essentials and non-necessities. Of course, your mortgage broker and local grocery store probably aren’t concerned with your savings goal, so you have to consider your base expenses before deciding on how much you can reasonably save.

Let’s take the 50/30/20 budget as an example, which allocates 50% of income to needs, 30% to wants and 20% to savings (or debt repayment). If you can reasonably keep your needs and wants to 80%, but can’t seem to save 20% at the end of the month, consider putting that money in savings upfront and only allowing yourself the remaining 80% for expenses. You could do this by direct depositing 20% of your paycheck into a savings account, or setting up an automatic transfer from your checking to savings account soon after you’re paid.

“Recurring contributions to a savings account, via direct deposit or automated transfers from a checking account, can take the hassle out of setting aside money for savings,” Taube says.

“The yields paid by savings accounts may decrease if the Federal Reserve lowers benchmark interest rates in the months ahead. But certain types of savings vehicles, such as add-on CDs and Treasury bill-based accounts, allow savers to ‘lock in’ a specific APY at the time of deposit, provided that the saver does not withdraw money before the Treasury bill or CD matures. For these types of accounts, automated recurring transfers may help savers earn a higher interest rate.”

Emergencies, vacations are top savings priorities

More than 4 in 5 Americans (82%) are actively saving in a bank account for something. A few top savings categories include an emergency fund (46%), vacations (33%), and a car purchase, lease or maintenance (23%).

Saving up for the big things, like an emergency fund or down payment, may be obvious. But saving for the smaller things — like vet bills or holiday gifts — can keep you from scrambling to come up with quick cash, going into credit card debt or raiding your emergency fund. Because while these expenses may not be billed at regular intervals, they’re often relatively predictable.

Set up sinking funds for your savings goals

More than 1 in 5 Americans (21%) have multiple savings accounts — or buckets — for different financial goals. Realistically, most of us probably need to save for more than one goal at a time, and sinking funds are a good option to save for expenses that don’t occur on a monthly basis.

A sinking fund is a savings or subsavings account earmarked for a specific expense type. For example, if you drive, you’ll need to pay for maintenance for your car, registration fees, license renewal and eventually car replacement, but these expenses aren’t billed on a monthly basis. By setting up a “Vehicle” savings account, you can put money aside regularly for these irregular, but inevitable, expenses of car ownership.

“A good savings cushion can provide peace of mind during times of economic uncertainty like these,” Taube says. “Setting up automatic transfers, incrementally increasing your savings contributions over time, and putting aside money for irregular expenses can all be good ways to shore up your financial position.”

Methodology

This survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of NerdWallet from March 4-6, 2025, among 2,046 adults ages 18 and older. The sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval. For this study, the sample data is accurate to within +/- 2.5 percentage points using a 95% confidence level. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables and subgroup sample sizes, please contact [email protected].

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