Personal saving rate

The share of after-tax income households do not spend.

What it measures

Personal saving — disposable personal income minus outlays — as a percentage of disposable personal income.

How it is measured

BEA national accounts, monthly. Saving is computed as what is left over after measured spending, so every revision to income or outlays moves it.

Reading it over a presidential term

Being a residual makes it jumpy and prone to revision, and it responds sharply to one-off events: stimulus payments push it to levels that say more about the transfer than about household habits.

What it leaves out

It is not the money in anyone’s bank account. Capital gains do not count as income here, so a household growing richer through asset prices can show no saving at all, and the aggregate rate hides who is saving.

Which direction counts as better?

High saving means households are building a buffer and funding investment, but also that they are spending less today; low saving means strong consumption now and thinner cushions later. Both readings are defensible.

Chart this series · See it by president · Download the data · The source at FRED