What percent of Americans would cover a $400 emergency with cash?
63% of U.S. adults would cover a $400 emergency expense entirely with cash or its equivalent, in the Federal Reserve's 2025 Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking. The other 37% would borrow or sell something to pay, or could not pay at all.
That is unchanged from the previous three years, and down from the 68% high in 2021.
Has the share who would not cover $400 entirely in cash changed?
37% of U.S. adults would not pay a $400 emergency expense entirely with cash or its equivalent in 2025, down from the 50% peak in 2013.
What it means for households: U.S. Savings Rate & Emergency Fund Statistics Behind on Your Mortgage?
How the share who would not cover $400 entirely in cash has moved since 2013
SHED Emergency Savings Survey: little changed over the past year
Share of U.S. adults who would not pay a $400 emergency expense entirely with cash or its equivalent: 37% in 2025, the same as a year earlier. Annual, 2013–2025.
What the share who would not cover $400 entirely in cash measures
The share is U.S. adults who said they would pay a $400 emergency expense with at least one way other than cash, money in a bank account, or a credit card paid off in full at the next statement. The Federal Reserve publishes the other side of the same question as the share who would cover it entirely with cash or its equivalent.
A higher share is worse for households.
Share who would not cover $400 entirely in cash by year, 2013 to 2025
| Year | Share (%) | Change from a year earlier (percentage points) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 37 | 0 |
| 2024 | 37 | 0 |
| 2023 | 37 | 0 |
| 2022 | 37 | +5 |
| 2021 | 32 | −4 |
| 2020 | 36 | −1 |
| 2019 | 37 | −2 |
| 2018 | 39 | −2 |
| 2017 | 41 | −3 |
| 2016 | 44 | −2 |
| 2015 | 46 | −1 |
| 2014 | 47 | −3 |
| 2013 | 50 | — |
Annual · Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking
Counties with the highest safety net and buffer scores
There's no county figure for this measure, so this list uses the safety net and buffer part of our County Distress Index.
| Rank | County | Score (0–100) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Choctaw County, OK | 94.8 |
| 2 | Stewart County, GA | 94.2 |
| 3 | Noxubee County, MS | 94.2 |
| 4 | Hudspeth County, TX | 94 |
| 5 | Brooks County, TX | 94 |
| 6 | Lake County, TN | 94 |
| 7 | Duval County, TX | 93.9 |
| 8 | Ripley County, MO | 93.5 |
| 9 | Dunklin County, MO | 93.3 |
| 10 | Quitman County, GA | 93.2 |
Questions about the $400 emergency question
What share of U.S. adults would not pay a $400 emergency with cash?
In the Federal Reserve's fall 2025 survey, 37% of U.S. adults would not pay a $400 emergency expense entirely with cash or its equivalent. The share was the same in 2024. This is not the share who cannot pay: most of them said they would pay another way, and 12% of adults in the 2025 survey said they could not pay at all.
Has the $400 figure changed over time?
The Fed has asked the question every year since 2013. The share has been the same as the year before for three years in a row. In 2021 the share was 32%. The Fed says the 2021 reading may reflect improving economic conditions and pandemic relief measures; it does not name a single cause.
What do people say they would do instead of paying with cash?
In the 2025 survey, 15% of all adults said they would put the expense on a credit card and pay it off over time, and 12% said they could not pay it right now. Others would borrow from family or friends, use a bank loan or line of credit, or sell something. People could pick more than one answer, so the shares overlap.
What is the Fed SHED survey?
The Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED) is an annual Federal Reserve survey of U.S. adults about their finances. It is fielded each fall and published the following May. Answers describe conditions at the time of the survey, not a full-year average.
Sources and method for the share who would not cover $400 entirely in cash
- Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking The share comes from the Federal Reserve's Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED), asked each fall and published the following May. We store the share who would not cover the expense entirely with cash; the share who would is 100 minus it. We use the annual figures as published, from 2013 through 2025, with no adjustment of our own. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System’s report
We write with assistance from AI tools. Figures come from the data and sources named on this page.