Evidence
Did not pay all bills in full last month
Who should skip this. Readers who need a this-month payment order. Use Start here instead.
Layer: Evidence · Last reviewed: September 29, 2026 · Card ID: EV-SHED-BILLS-2025
Plain title
Share of U.S. adults who did not pay all bills in full in the month before the survey
The number
16 percent
A related, larger figure in the same chapter: 28 percent of adults either missed a bill or paid their non-credit-card bills but said they had difficulty doing so. The 16 percent is the missed-or-short group only. Do not replace it with 28 percent in a headline.
Date and source
- Survey: Federal Reserve Board, Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED)
- Field period: October 17–28, 2025
- Report: *Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2025*, released May 2026
- Chapter: Economic Hardships, table 19
- Executive summary:
- PDF:
Exact definition
The Fed counted an adult as not having paid all bills in full if either:
- they did not pay a credit-card bill, or they paid less than the minimum on a card last month, or
- they did not pay another type of bill in full last month.
For cards, “in full” here means at least the minimum, not the statement balance. Paying only the minimum on a card does not put someone in this 16 percent, unless another bill was missed.
Before 2023 the SHED asked a different question: expected ability to pay all bills in full *this* month, and it did not define what “in full” meant for cards. Do not splice pre-2023 percentages onto this series.
This is a survey of adults, about the prior month. It is not Pulse’s question about whether households paid all bills on time over 12 months.
Who is in the number, who is not
- In the number: U.S. adults in the 2025 SHED who met the definition above.
- Not: adults who paid every bill, including card minimums, but felt strained. Some of those people are in the separate 28 percent “struggled” figure.
- Not: households in Financial Health Pulse.
- Not: people only in collections. A missed bill can become collections. This question does not wait for that.
Table 19 (same definition, 2025):
| Group | Did not pay all bills in full, prior month |
|---|---|
| Family income under $25,000 | 34% |
| $25,000–$49,999 | 26% |
| $50,000–$99,999 | 13% |
| $100,000 or more | 7% |
| Age 18–29 | 24% |
| Age 60+ | 9% |
| Black adults | 32% |
| Hispanic adults | 25% |
| White adults | 10% |
| Asian adults | 12% |
| Disability | 24% |
| No disability | 14% |
| All adults | 16% |
Those gaps are context. They do not assign a score to one household.
Same chapter, different questions: 8 percent said someone in the family sometimes or often did not have enough to eat; 26 percent skipped medical care because of cost in the prior year.
What changed since the last release
The 16 percent reading was similar to 2024. The Fed describes the bill-payment rate for the listed demographic groups as generally unchanged from the prior year.
What this does not prove
- It does not prove that 16 percent of adults skipped rent. The missed bill could be a card minimum, a utility, or another account.
- It does not equal 32 percent from Pulse (100 minus 68 percent who paid all bills on time over 12 months). Different population, different window, different question.
- It does not equal the 37 percent who would not cover $400 with cash or its equivalent.
- It does not tell you which of your bills to pay today.
What to read next
- Start here: I may not make this month’s bills
- Foundation: A 7-day cash map
- Start here: I am late, or in collections
- Evidence: Households with unmanageable debt (Pulse, different survey)
- Evidence: Would cover a $400 expense with cash or its equivalent
FourHundred is an education tool. It is not personalized financial, tax, or legal advice. Evidence cards change when the source changes, not when headlines want a new take.