America’s Top 10% Income Bracket Breaks Consumer Spending Record

person counting twenty dollar bills
Via Pexels
Adé Hennis
March 25, 2025

New data from Moody’s Analytics shows that the top 10% of earners in the U.S. account for 49.7% of all consumer spending. That top income bracket comprises households making at least $250,000 annually.

Since 1989, the first year that data was collected, the consumer spending of the top 10% has been at a record high. Last year, a Federal Reserve report showed that higher-income households spent more money in the last three years than average.

David Tinsley, senior economist for the Bank of America Institute suggests that the top 10% are “going to Paris and loading up their suitcases with luxury bags and shoes and clothes.”

As the wealthy spend more, experts say that lower-income households are not. Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Analytics said that for the lower and lower-middle classes, it’s been a “struggle.”

“The fact that consumer spending is so concentrated among folks who are well-to-do makes the economy vulnerable,” said Zandi. He cites credit card debt as one of the biggest obstacles for lower-income earners to increase their income, as credit card delinquencies continue to rise.

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