Characteristics of Unbanked & Under-banked Households - United States, 2017

Unbanked – No one in the household has a checking or savings account.

Underbanked – If a household has a checking or savings account and still had to use an alternative financial service provider in the past 12 months. Such as money orders, payday loans, pawn shop loans, etc.

Fully Banked – A household has a checking or savings account and did not have to use alternative financial services in the past year.

Household Characteristics Number of Households (1000s) Unbanked Households (Percent) Underbanked Households (Percent) Banked: Fully Banked Households(Percent)
All 129,276 6.5% 18.7% 68.4%
Family Income
Less than $15,000 15,997 25.7% 20.9% 47.7%
$15,000 to $30,000 19,842 12.3% 22.4% 58.3%
$30,000 to $50,000 25,610 5.1% 22.8% 65.4%
$50,000 to $75,000 23,763 1.5% 19.7% 72.8%
At least $75,000 44,064 0.6% 13.3% 79.9%
Household Type
Female Individual 24,262 7.6% 15.7% 70.0%
Male Individual 21,776 9.2% 18.9% 65.3%
Unmarried Female-headed Family 15,172 15.4% 27.5% 51.2%
Unmarried Male-headed Household 6,600 9.9% 25.4% 58.5%
Married Couple 61,138 2.5% 16.9% 74.3%
Race/Ethnicity
Caucasian 85,599 3.0% 14.1% 77.1%
African-American 18,201 16.9% 30.4% 45.8%
Asian 6,792 2.5% 17.5% 69.2%
Other 2,030 12.8% 28.0% 55.8%
Hispanic 16,655 14.0% 28.9% 49.7%
Language
Spanish is Not Only Language Spoken 124,329 5.8% 18.2% 69.7%
Spanish is Only Language Spoken 4,947 24.4% 32.2% 36.0%
Age Group
15-24 6,625 10.0% 29.3% 56.5%
25-34 20,997 8.5% 23.1% 62.5%
35-44 21,532 7.8% 22.2% 63.6%
45-54 23,277 6.9% 19.3% 67.1%
55-64 24,484 5.9% 17.8% 70.3%
65+ 32,361 3.9% 11.6% 77.5%
Disability Status
Disabled, age 25 to 64 11,297 18.1% 24.7% 52.2%
Not Disabled, age 25 to 64 78,993 5.7% 19.9% 68.0%
Not applicable (not age 25 to 64) 38,985 4.9% 14.6% 73.9%
Education
No High School Diploma 12,461 22.4% 24.3% 46.3%
High School Diploma 33,334 9.4% 20.3% 63.7%
Some College 37,355 5.1% 20.8% 67.8%
College Degree 46,127 1.3% 14.4% 78.3%

Source: 2017 Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households - Appendix Table A.1