The Brief

New Bank of America data shows 24% of U.S. households now live paycheck to paycheck, driven mainly by rising financial strain among lower-income earners.

Wage growth has slowed sharply for lower-income households, while higher-income groups continue to see stronger gains, helping them absorb rising inflation.

The South and West still have the highest shares of paycheck-to-paycheck households, but the biggest increases this year occurred in the Northeast and Midwest.

New financial data reveals that more Americans are living paycheck to paycheck.

The study, released by Bank of America on Tuesday, defined households as living paycheck to paycheck if their necessity spending exceeded 95% of their income, meaning the majority of a household’s immediate earnings went toward basic

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