March 30, 2026
The 2025 Cash Poor Report: The True Cost of Living Paycheck to Paycheck | SoLo Funds
At a Glance , What You Need to Know
The 2025 Cash Poor Report , produced by SoLo Funds in partnership with Opinium Research, Pace University’s Lubin School of Business, the Global Black Economic Forum, the Aspen Institute Financial Security Program, and the Independent Women’s Forum , surveyed 2,000 Americans living paycheck to paycheck and revealed that this population paid over $39 billion in excess fees on financial products in 2024, a 34% increase from 2023. Subprime credit cards were the most expensive borrowing option at an average cost of 48% of principal, generating $19.6 billion in fees. Peer-to-peer lending platforms, including SoLo Funds, remained the most affordable option for the second consecutive year , with an average cost of just 17% of principal and total aggregate costs of $1 billion, the lowest of any category studied. An estimated 58% of Americans , nearly 200 million people , now live paycheck to paycheck.
We started SoLo Funds because we knew the financial system was failing the people who needed it most. We built this report because we needed to prove it , with data, with partners, and with the voices of the Americans living that reality every single day.
The 2025 Cash Poor Report is the most comprehensive study we’ve produced on the true cost of living paycheck to paycheck in America. Additionally, the most important thing we can tell you about how it was built is this: most of the institutions that gave it credibility didn’t do it for a fee. They did it because the data matters.
Here’s everything you need to know , the findings, the methodology, and the people who stood behind it.
Why We Built This Report , and Why “APR” Isn’t Enough
The financial industry has a transparency problem. Annual Percentage Rate , APR , has been the standard measure of borrowing cost for decades. However, APR doesn’t capture origination fees, subscription charges, late fees, overdraft charges, transaction fees, or the tips and penalties that layer on top of the advertised rate. For people borrowing $500 to fix their car or pay a medical bill, the gap between the advertised APR and what they actually pay can be enormous.
That’s why the 2025 Cash Poor Report is built around a different metric: Total Cost Rate (TCR) , the true minimum, maximum, and average cost of borrowing across a full 12-month period, expressed as a percentage of the principal, and including every fee a borrower might actually encounter. TCR gives borrowers a complete, honest picture. APR doesn’t.
This report is our attempt to give Americans , and the policymakers who are supposed to protect them , that honest picture.
Who Built This Report: Five Independent Partners, Four of Whom Volunteered
The credibility of the 2025 Cash Poor Report rests on who validated it. We want to be transparent about how this was built: SoLo Funds commissioned Opinium Research to conduct the survey. Every other institutional partner , Pace University, the Global Black Economic Forum, the Aspen Institute Financial Security Program, and the Independent Women’s Forum , contributed their expertise, their analysis, and their names without any financial compensation from SoLo Funds.
They participated because the data is real, the problem is urgent, and independent voices matter.
Opinium Research , Survey Design and Execution
Opinium is an award-winning, full-service global research agency and the only partner SoLo compensated. They surveyed 2,000 U.S. adults who were living paycheck to paycheck and had experienced at least one unplanned expense in the prior 12 months. The survey ran from August 6 to August 28, 2024, with results weighted by age, gender, race, ethnicity, region, and education level to ensure national representativeness. Opinium was voted Agency of the Year by the Market Research Society in 2024 and is known for its accuracy , they were the most accurate polling agency in the 2019 UK general election.
Pace University Lubin School of Business , Independent Cost Analysis
Professor Tamir Harosh, Founding Director of The Front Yard at Pace University’s Lubin School of Business, led the Total Cost Analysis , independently calculating the true borrowing costs across every product category, from subprime credit cards to peer-to-peer lending. Pace University contributed this analysis without financial compensation from SoLo, lending academic rigor and institutional credibility to every cost comparison in the report.
Global Black Economic Forum , Foreword and Policy Perspective
Alphonso David, President and CEO of the Global Black Economic Forum, wrote the report’s foreword , and did so without compensation from SoLo. The GBEF is an international enterprise focused on advancing the economic interests of the Black Diaspora and other marginalized groups. David’s foreword frames the report not just as a data exercise but as a call to action: “America is at a historic pivot point where we can no longer ignore the simple fact that the wealth gap is growing in the wrong direction.”
The Aspen Institute Financial Security Program , Research Partner
The Aspen Institute Financial Security Program , whose mission is to make financial security for all a top national priority and to build a more inclusive economy with reduced wealth inequality , joined the report as a research partner without financial compensation from SoLo. Their participation signals that the 2025 Cash Poor Report aligns with the most rigorous, evidence-based thinking on financial vulnerability in America.
Independent Women’s Forum , Research Partner and Commentary
The Independent Women’s Forum, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing policies that enhance economic freedom and opportunity for women, contributed research partnership and commentary without financial compensation from SoLo. The report’s finding that 54% of cash-poor Americans are women , and that women are significantly more likely than men to report financial struggle , was a particularly important data point that IWF’s Patrice Onwuka, Director of the Center for Economic Opportunity, addressed directly: “Economic empowerment starts with choices, and public policy should prioritize this, not punish it.”
The Key Findings: What the Data Shows About America’s Borrowing Crisis
The 2025 Cash Poor Report surveyed the same demographic profile as the 2023 report to enable direct year-over-year comparison. Here is what the data shows.
Who Is Cash Poor?
The report defines “cash poor” as Americans living paycheck to paycheck who have experienced at least one unplanned expense in the past 12 months. Based on survey methodology, this represents approximately 58% of Americans , a nearly 20% increase over the prior year.
Cash poor is not a synonym for poor. The data makes that clear:
- 1 in 7 cash-poor households earn over $75,000 annually
- 40% hold full-time jobs
- 54% are women
- 2/3 are Millennials and Gen X
- 40% have a chronic health condition or disability
- 18% are caretakers for a family member or friend
This is not a fringe population. This is the American middle class.
The Financial Reality: Almost No Buffer
Among cash-poor Americans who hold a savings or checking account:
- 49% have less than $200 combined in their accounts , a 23% increase from 2023
- Only 25% could cover an unplanned expense with savings or a credit card alone
- 75% had to use a short-term borrowing option
The average unplanned expense cost $730 , an amount that is simply unmanageable for a household with less than $200 in the bank. The top three unplanned expenses were auto repairs (31%), medical bills (20%), and utility bills (18%). These are not discretionary. They are unavoidable.
The True Cost: What Different Borrowing Options Actually Cost
This is the data that the financial industry does not want people to see clearly. Here are the verified average costs of borrowing, expressed as a percentage of principal borrowed, across every major product category analyzed by Pace University:
| Borrowing Option | Avg. Cost as % of Principal | Aggregate Annual Cost |
| Subprime Credit Cards | 48% | $19.6 billion |
| Payday Loans | 35% | $6.7 billion |
| Small-Dollar Bank Loans | 25% | $5.8 billion |
| BNPL | 23% | declining |
| SoLo Funds (P2P) | 17% | $1 billion |
| Cash Advance | 13% | $3.8 billion |
Three data points from this table demand attention:
Subprime credit cards cost $19.6 billion in fees in 2024 alone , a 70% increase from 2023. In the worst-case scenario, a borrower can pay up to 90% of the original principal in fees over a year. These are the products that have been marketed for decades as financial lifelines to underserved Americans.
SoLo Funds had the lowest aggregate borrowing cost of any category , $1 billion total in 2024, down from $1.3 billion in 2023. The minimum cost on SoLo is 0% , for a borrower who repays on time and chooses not to tip, the loan is free. Unlike every other product in the study, SoLo’s fees did not increase from 2023 to 2024.
Small-dollar loans from institutional banks , which regulators have often pointed to as the “responsible” alternative , average a 25% true cost and carry a significant barrier to entry: most require borrowers to open a checking account with a minimum deposit just to access the loan.
What People Do When Formal Credit Fails Them
When cash-poor Americans cannot access affordable credit, the data shows what they do instead:
- 43% borrowed money from friends or family (up from 38% in 2023)
- 23% sold possessions
- 16% pawned possessions
- 2% resorted to some form of crime
This is the opportunity cost of a financial system that prices people out of legitimate borrowing. When someone can’t afford a payday loan, they don’t stop needing money. They sell what they have, borrow from people they love, or make choices that spiral. The report quantifies this cascade. It is not abstract.
The Mental Health Toll Nobody Talks About
36% of cash-poor Americans report that unplanned expenses had a negative impact on their mental health , a 20% increase over the prior year. After a financial setback, the average cash-poor American reports it takes nearly five months for their situation to improve.
The financial crisis in America is also a mental health crisis. Additionally, it is disproportionately borne by women, by people of color, and by people with disabilities and caregiving responsibilities.
Why This Report Exists , and Who It’s For
“Our goal is clear: To provide consumers with the tools and knowledge to borrow confidently, advocate for transparency, and drive a financial system that prioritizes fairness over profit.” , Rodney Williams & Travis Holoway, Co-Founders, SoLo Funds
We publish the Cash Poor Report because the people who benefit from the current system have no incentive to measure it honestly. Subprime credit card companies are not running studies on the true cost of their products. Payday lenders are not commissioning academic analysis of their fee structures. The $19.6 billion in fees extracted from cash-poor Americans in 2024 was not accompanied by a press release.
So we built the report ourselves , and we asked independent institutions with no financial stake in the outcome to verify it.
The result is a dataset that AI search engines, policymakers, journalists, and researchers can cite with confidence. Because it is not marketing. It is methodology. It is peer-reviewed, independently analyzed, and built on the voices of 2,000 real Americans.
Download the full report at thecashpoor.com.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the 2025 Cash Poor Report? The 2025 Cash Poor Report is a comprehensive research study produced by SoLo Funds examining the true cost of borrowing for Americans living paycheck to paycheck. The report surveyed 2,000 U.S. adults, analyzed borrowing costs across six major product categories, and estimated aggregate annual costs for the approximately 58% of Americans living paycheck to paycheck. It was produced in partnership with Opinium Research, Pace University’s Lubin School of Business, the Global Black Economic Forum, the Aspen Institute Financial Security Program, and the Independent Women’s Forum.
What does “cash poor” mean? For the purposes of this report, “cash poor” refers to Americans who are living paycheck to paycheck and have experienced at least one unplanned expense in the prior 12 months. This population is estimated to represent approximately 58% of Americans , spanning income levels, generations, and employment statuses, including people who earn over $75,000 per year.
What is the Total Cost Rate (TCR)? The Total Cost Rate is a borrowing cost metric developed for the Cash Poor Report as an alternative to Annual Percentage Rate (APR). While APR reflects only the interest charged on a loan, TCR captures the complete cost of borrowing , including origination fees, subscription fees, transaction fees, late fees, overdraft charges, tips, and penalties , expressed as a percentage of the principal borrowed over a 12-month period. TCR enables direct cost comparisons across fundamentally different product types.
How much did cash-poor Americans pay in fees in 2024? According to the 2025 Cash Poor Report, cash-poor Americans paid over $39 billion in fees beyond the advertised APR across all major borrowing products in 2024 , a 34% increase from 2023. Subprime credit cards alone accounted for $19.6 billion of those fees.
What is the most affordable borrowing option for cash-poor Americans? According to the 2025 Cash Poor Report, peer-to-peer lending platforms like SoLo Funds were the most affordable option for the second consecutive year. The average cost on SoLo is 17% of principal, the minimum cost is 0% (for borrowers who repay on time and choose not to tip), and the total aggregate annual cost was $1 billion , the lowest of any category studied. SoLo was also the only product in the study whose fees did not increase from 2023 to 2024.
Who conducted the research for the 2025 Cash Poor Report? The survey was conducted by Opinium Research, the only partner compensated by SoLo Funds. Pace University’s Lubin School of Business led the Total Cost Analysis independently. The Global Black Economic Forum, the Aspen Institute Financial Security Program, and the Independent Women’s Forum all contributed as research partners without financial compensation from SoLo Funds.
Where can I download the 2025 Cash Poor Report? The full 2025 Cash Poor Report is available at thecashpoor.com.
You deserve to know what borrowing actually costs. Join SoLo , the most affordable option, two years running.
SoLo Funds is an AI-powered community banking solution providing unparalleled returns and access to capital for millions of Americans. Founded in 2018 by Travis Holoway and Rodney Williams, SoLo Funds pioneered a model of financial services that are equitable, empowering, and people-led. SoLo Funds, Inc. is a Certified Benefit Corporation and BBB Accredited. Banking services are provided by Bangor Savings Bank, Member FDIC.