Nearly Half of Consumers Earning $100,000 a Year Live Paycheck to Paycheck

Nearly half of consumers earning more than $100,000 in annual income currently live paycheck to paycheck, according to New Reality Check: The Paycheck-To-Paycheck Report, a PYMNTS and LendingClub collaboration based on a survey of 2,633 U.S. consumers.

Get the report: New Reality Check: The Paycheck-To-Paycheck Report

Among the consumers earning more than $100,000 in annual income, 37% live paycheck to paycheck but are able to pay their monthly bills, and 12% live paycheck to paycheck and have difficulty paying their bills. The greatest share of consumers with that income — 52% — do not live paycheck to paycheck.

The share of all consumers living paycheck to paycheck and able to pay their monthly bills has seen the biggest uptick since October, especially among these higher-income consumers. The ranks of paycheck-to-paycheck consumers who struggle to pay their bills have seen little fluctuation.

Among the consumers earning more than $100,000, the percentage who live paycheck to paycheck has been trending upwards. The share in January was higher than it was in December and in October, though lower than it was in November—when there was a surge in the percentage living paycheck to paycheck but comfortably.

Consumers in this income bracket have between about $11,000 and $13,000 in savings. Declared savings among consumers with incomes over $100,000 living paycheck to paycheck are not much different among those who face difficulties paying their bills ($11,168) and those who do not ($12,881).

Those who live paycheck to paycheck have far less in savings than consumers in the same income bracket who do not live paycheck to paycheck ($22,263).