A representative picture of what Americans own—from houses and cars to stocks and bonds—how and how much they borrow, and how they bank, as well as their feelings about their economic situation and that of the country more broadly will be created through data collected by the Federal Reserve beginning in March, the agency said Friday.
Announcing the Fed’s 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances, Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome H. (“Jay”) Powell said in a letter that the survey will provide both the public and policymakers with “detailed and important” insights into the economic condition of American families.
“This survey is an important source of information on the financial well-being of American families,” Powell said in the letter to prospective survey participants. “Our most recent survey, which took place in 2022, has been important to understanding the different ways that American families experienced the unusual economic conditions surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The letter from Powell will be mailed in mid-March to approximately 13,000 households urging their participation in the study, the Fed said.
Participants in the survey, which has been taken since 1983 in its current form, are chosen at random from 119 geographic areas, including metropolitan areas and rural counties across the United States, using a scientific sampling procedure, the Fed said. According to the Fed, the survey is being conducted through December for the board by NORC, a University of Chicago social science research organization. A representative of NORC contacts each potential participant personally to explain the study and request time for an interview.
Individual survey responses are kept strictly confidential. NORC is forbidden from giving the names and addresses of participants to anyone at the Federal Reserve or elsewhere, and that information is permanently destroyed after the survey is completed.
The agency said summary results for the 2025 study will be published late next year after all data from the survey has been assessed and analyzed.
Federal Reserve Board begins 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances
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