Survey: Average U.S. millennial spends $26,000 a year

Photo by Helena Lopes from Pexels

U.S. millennials spend an average of $2,164.99 month, or $25,979.88 a year, according to a survey by Ally Financial.

The Detroit-based bank asked 2,000 young adults about their incomes, expenses and attitudes toward financial planning.

The average millennial said an annual income of $53,000 is enough to live comfortably.

Seven in 10 millennials don’t believe Social Security will be around by the time they’re old enough to collect it.

Key Findings

Average Millennial Monthly Expenses

Food $325.44
Housing/Utilities $426.73
Social/Entertainment $198.51
Clothes $208.14
Travel $222.99
Tech $222.23
Student Loans $191.43
Medical Costs $209.94
Subscriptions (Netflix, Hulu, etc.) $32.65
Memberships (Gym, etc.) $29.13
Transportation $61.89

Top 8 Things Millennials Are Currently Saving For

Emergencies (medical, car or home repair) 44%
Experiences like vacation/travel, wedding, etc. 41%
Retirement 41%
Deposit for new apartment/house 38%
Education (yours or your child’s) 35%
Home improvements 31%
New tech (iPhone, video game console, etc.) 25%

Source: Ally Bank

Reporter’s Notes:

Real mean personal income in the United States grew 3.3 percent to $46,550 in 2016, the most recent year of available data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The median household income grew 1.8 percent to $61,372 in 2017, the most recent year of available data from the U.S. Census Bureau. A household refers to a single housing unit and all of the people that live in it.

Definitions of the millennial generation vary, but Pew Research Center said the group is made up of people born from 1981 to 1996. Pew forecast that millennials will become the largest U.S. demographic group in 2019 with 73 million people as baby boomers decline to 72 million. Generation X, born from 1965 to 1980, was never bigger than the baby boom generation, but will overtake the older group starting in 2028 when they both have 65 million people, according to Pew’s estimate.

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