Studies and Data Analysis

Americans' gambling habits over the past year

According to a December 2024 NerdWallet survey, conducted by The Harris Poll, nearly 3 in 4 Americans (72%) say they’ve gambled in the past 12 months. The most common type of gambling they participated in is scratch-off lottery tickets (48%).

• Americans who’ve gambled in the past 12 months say they’ve spent $1,827, on average, on gambling during that time, though the median is much lower at $220.

• Nearly half of Americans who gambled in the past 12 months (47%) say they rarely make bets larger than $20.

• While 23% of those who’ve gambled in the past 12 months say they budget gambling into their monthly expenses, the same proportion (23%) often feel like they’re scraping by financially.

• Around 1 in 6 Americans who gambled in the past 12 months (17%) say they consider gambling to be an investment.

How many Americans have emergency funds?

Emergency funds can be the foundation of financial security. An unexpected medical bill or car repair can throw your finances into turmoil when you don’t have funds set aside for such surprises. Unfortunately, just 42% of Americans have an emergency fund of at least $2,000 on hand, according to this NerdWallet survey conducted online by The Harris Poll in November.

• 42% of Americans currently have an emergency fund (i.e., easily accessible “cash” for unexpected expenses) of at least $2,000. 

• These funds are most common among baby boomers (ages 60-78) — 55% of this group has such a fund versus 39% of Gen. X (ages 44-59), 36% of millennials (ages 28-43) and 31% of Gen. Z (ages 18-27).

• Men (47%)  are more likely than women (38%) to have such a $2,000 emergency fund.

Learn more about emergency funds, here.

2025 Super Bowl betting

A recent NerdWallet survey, conducted by The Harris Poll, asked Americans who they’re rooting for and who they’re betting on to win the 2025 Super Bowl between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs.

• More than 4 in 5 Americans (81%) say they’ll watch the Super Bowl. Among them, 42% are rooting for the Eagles, 38% are rooting for the Chiefs and 20% aren’t rooting for either team.

• Just 17% of Super Bowl watchers say their favorite team is playing this year. This is true for 25% of those rooting for the Chiefs and 17% of those rooting for the Eagles.

• Of Americans who are betting on who will win the 2025 Super Bowl, it’s a close one — 52% are betting on the Chiefs to win, while 48% are betting on the Eagles to win.

2025 Super Bowl viewing reasons

A recent NerdWallet survey, conducted by The Harris Poll, asked Americans reasons why they would watch the 2025 Super Bowl. The top reasons for viewing are the teams playing (52%), socializing with friends (50%) and the commercials (49%). Three in 10 (30%) say betting on the game is among their reasons to watch. Read more about this in our 2025 Sports Betting Report.

Economic optimism post-election

Nearly three in 10 (29%) Americans say the recent election outcome gave them greater optimism about the U.S. economy in 2025, according to this November 2024 survey.

• Men are more likely than women to share this sentiment — 33% of men versus 26% of women. 

• The difference between men and women ages 65 and older is pronounced — 42% of men in this age group say the election resulted in greater economic optimism for 2025, versus 26% of women ages 65 and older. 

Shopping during annual sale events

• In the past 12 months, 39% of Americans have taken advantage of an annual sale event to buy something they were already planning to buy.

• In the past 12 months, 29% of Americans bought something they weren’t planning to buy during an annual sale event.

• In the past 12 months, 16% of Americans have regretted buying something they weren’t planning to buy during an annual sale event.

*The examples we provided for "annual sale events" include Amazon Prime Days, Target Circle Week and Black Friday.

Reluctance to using autopay

Autopay — the automatic payment of bills (utilities, credit cards, etc.) from your bank account — can help simplify your financial life by giving you one (or many) less things to worry about. But our nationally-representative survey conducted online by The Harris Poll found two reasons some Americans are reluctant to use the service.

• 26% of Americans are reluctant to use autopay to pay their bills because they like greater control over transactions affecting their account(s).

• 24% of Americans are reluctant to use autopay to pay their bills because they’re concerned about mistakes.

Read more here, where writer Melissa Lambarena details when and how to use the service to your advantage.

Americans under financial strain

Seventeen percent of Americans are currently having difficulty making all of their debt payments each month according to our nationally-representative survey conducted online by The Harris Poll.

Other results from our survey:

• 17% of Americans cannot reasonably make more than the minimum payments on their debt each month (i.e., if they did they wouldn’t be able to pay for necessities).

• Less than half (42%) of Americans would be able to pay for all of their necessary expenses (e.g., food, housing, utilities) if their household income decreased by 10%.

• 18% of Americans borrowed money in the last 12 months to pay for necessities such as food, housing or utilities. This includes 25% of Gen Z, 26% of Millennials, 17% of Gen X and 7% of Baby Boomers.

Health insurance shoppers’ priorities

As part of our recent Medicare and Retirement Report, we asked how insured Americans prioritize health insurance factors. Most Americans (94%) say they have insurance, whether Medicare or otherwise. When asked which factors are among the most important when choosing a health insurance plan, the top ones were prescription drug coverage (54%), dental, vision and hearing coverage options (49%) and ability to keep seeing current doctors (47%).

Americans financial plans after interest rate cuts

The Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates in the fall in response to moderating inflation. We recently examined Americans' plans to take any financial actions once rates go down:

Our nationally-representative survey conducted online by The Harris Poll found some stark generational differences:

• 89% of Gen Z (ages 18-27) say they planned to take at least one financial action once interest rates go down, compared with 78% of Millennials (ages 28-43), 62% of Gen Xers (ages 44-59) and 31% of Baby Boomers (ages 60-78).

• 30% each of Gen Z and Millennials say they planned to purchase a car compared with 22% of Gen Xers and 12% of Baby Boomers.

• 29% of Gen Z and 27% of Millennials say they plan to refinance a loan as compared with 18% of Gen Xers and just 3% of Baby Boomers.

• 30% of Gen Z and 22% of Millennials say they plan to take out a loan as compared with 13% of Gen Xers and just 3% of Baby Boomers.

• Around two-thirds of Americans (66%) don’t feel comfortable talking with their friends about personal finance situations, such as income, debt and money problems.

• More than 2 in 5 Americans (43%) say they’ve lent money to a friend and 20% of Americans have had to remind a friend to pay them back the money they owed.

• Over a quarter of Americans (27%) say they’ve had to turn down plans with a friend because they couldn’t afford it. Gen Zers and millennials are more likely to say this than Gen Xers and baby boomers — 35% and 34%, vs. 25% and 20%.*

• More than half of Americans (53%) say they generally don’t have arguments about money with their friends. Baby boomers are more likely to say this than younger generations — 64%, vs. 56% of Gen X, 45% of millennials and 43% of Gen Z.

*Generations defined: Gen Z (ages 18-27), millennials (ages 28-43), Gen X (ages 44-59), baby boomers (ages 60-78)

• Close to half of Americans (45%) say they’ve made weight loss-related purchases for themselves, including prescription weight loss medications (11%) and weight loss surgery (5%).

• About two-thirds of Americans who have made weight loss-related purchases for themselves (63%) used cash or debit cards to pay for them, while 38% used a credit card they paid in full by the due date. 

• Some Americans who have made weight loss-related purchases for themselves took on debt — 14% used a credit card they didn’t pay in full by the due date and 12% used a buy now, pay later service.

• Nearly a quarter of Americans who have made weight loss-related purchases for themselves (24%) used insurance to pay for it, while 10% used an FSA/HSA.