Thirty-six percent of U.S. employees with salaries of $100,000 or more are living paycheck to paycheck — twice as many who said they were in 2019, according to a survey conducted by Willis Towers Watson, a consulting firm. CNBC reports:
That’s more than the 34% of workers who earn $50,000 to $100,000 a year who are living paycheck to paycheck, though lower than the 52% of paycheck-to-paycheck workers with incomes of less than $50,000, according to the survey.
However, the high earners are the only group that saw an increase in their paycheck-to-paycheck ranks in the last three years.
“Employees at higher pay levels aren’t immune to living paycheck to paycheck,” said Mark Smrecek, the financial wellbeing market leader for North America at Willis Towers Watson.
Willis Towers Watson polled 9,658 full-time employees from large and midsize private employers in December and January 2022, before the most recent inflation readings.