Fewer Americans use cash today than a decade ago, but many still carry it

(Photoschmidt via Getty Images) Today, 42% of U.S. adults say they don’t use cash for any purchases in a typical week. This is up from 24% in 2015. Fewer – 12% – say they use cash to pay for all or almost all of their purchases in a typical week. Another 46% say they use cash sometimes, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted from May 26 to June 1, 2026. Going cashless is more common now than a decade ago % of U.S. adults who say they make __ of their purchases in a typical week using cash Note: Go to the topline for full question wording. Those who did not give an answer are not shown. Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted May 26-June 1, 2026. PEW RESEARCH CENTER Going cashless is more common now than a decade ago % of U.S. adults who say they make __ of their purchases in a typical week using cash All or almost allSomeNone2026124642202214444120181852292015245124 Note: Go to the topline for full question wording. Those who did not give an answer are not shown. Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted May 26-June 1, 2026. PEW RESEARCH CENTER About this research This Pew Research Center analysis looks at how often Americans are using and carrying cash. Why did we do this? Pew Research Center does research to inform the public, journalists and decision-makers. This research builds on our past work studying the cashless economy. How did we do this? We surveyed 9,750 U.S. adults from May 26 to June 1, 2026. Everyone who took part in this survey is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel. The survey represents the views of the full U.S. adult population. Here are the questions we used for this analysis, the topline and the survey methodology. Higher-income Americans continue to be far more likely than those with lower incomes to go cashless. Today, 58% of those in households earning $100,000 or more a year say they make none of their purchases with cash in a typical week. This is higher than the 43% of those in households earning $50,000 to $99,999 who say the same. This continues to drop steadily by income, to 24% of those making less than $30,000. Higher-income Americans remain much more likely to go cashless for purchases % of U.S. adults who say they make __ of their purchases in a typical week using cash, by annual household income Note: Go to the topline for full question wording. Those who said “Some” or did not give an answer are not shown. Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted May 26-June 1, 2026. PEW RESEARCH CENTER Higher-income Americans remain much more likely to go cashless for purchases % of U.S. adults who say they make __ of their purchases in a typical week using cash, by annual household income AmountYear<$30K$30K-$49,999$50K-$99,999$100K+All or almost all20262616104All or almost all2022302084All or almost all20183120116All or almost all20153824148None202624334358None202224354559None201818273543None201515243036 Note: Go to the topline for full question wording. Those who said “Some” or did not give an answer are not shown. Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted May 26-June 1, 2026. PEW RESEARCH CENTER On the other hand, those in lower-income households are more likely than other groups to rely on cash. About a quarter of those who make less than $30,000 annually use it for all or almost all purchases. Younger adults stand out for never using cash. About half of adults under 30 (51%) say they don’t use cash for any of their purchases in a typical week. This drops to 46% of those 30 to 49 years old and further to 37% of those 50 to 64. Those 65 and older are the least likely to say they never use cash. Adults under 50 are still more likely than older adults to go cashless % of U.S. adults who say they make none of their purchases in a typical week using cash Note: Go to the topline for full question wording. Those who did not give an answer or gave other responses are not shown. Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted May 26-June 1, 2026. PEW RESEARCH CENTER Adults under 50 are still more likely than older adults to go cashless % of U.S. adults who say they make none of their purchases in a typical week using cash Ages 18-2930-4950-6465+201529282019201834352225202246493433202651463733 Note: Go to the topline for full question wording. Those who did not give an answer or gave other responses are not shown. Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted May 26-June 1, 2026. PEW RESEARCH CENTER How common is carrying cash today? Even as Americans overall move toward cashless payments, nearly half of Americans (46%) say they carry cash on them always or most of the time. About one-in-five U.S. adults say they have cash on them sometimes. And 32% say they rarely or never do. Nearly half of U.S. adults say they carry cash always or most of the time, but young adults are far less likely % of U.S. adults who say they carry physical cash with them … Note: Those who did not give an answer are not shown. Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted May 26-June 1, 2026. PEW RESEARCH CENTER Nearly half of U.S. adults say they carry cash always or most of the time, but young adults are far less likely % of U.S. adults who say they carry physical cash with them … GroupAlways/Most of the timeSometimesRarely/NeverU.S. adultsAll462232Ages 18-29Ages29264530-49Ages35254050-64Ages53202765+Ages691614 Note: Those who did not give an answer are not shown. Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted May 26-June 1, 2026. PEW RESEARCH CENTER But having cash on hand doesn’t always mean it’s being used. Indeed, 26% of Americans who carry cash always or most of the time say they don’t use it for any of their typical purchases. Older adults are far more likely to say they frequently have cash on them. While a large majority of those 65 and older say this, that drops to about three-in-ten adults under 30. The shares who often carry cash are fairly similar across household incomes, even though lower-income Americans are more likely to use it. Half of Americans in households that make $100,000 or more say they carry cash all or most of the time. For those in households who earn less, this figure is between 41% and 44%. Note: Here are the questions we used for this analysis, the topline and the survey methodology. Michelle Faverio is a research associate focusing on internet and technology research at Pew Research Center. Eugenie Park is a research analyst at Pew Research Center.