Revealing Millennial Spending Statistics & Facts for 2023
We all know Millennials as the tech-savvy, attention-seeking people looking for instant gratification. But what do we know about their spending habits? Today’s Millennial spending statistics article aims to shed some light on what kind of consumers Millennials are. Using relevant data from the latest reports on the subject, we will try to paint the picture of the average Millennial consumers and try to figure out how they spend their money. So let’s dive right in.
Top 10 Millennial Spending Statistics and Facts
A Millennial lead household has a mean disposable income of $84,975.
Millennials spend a daily average of $208.77, more than any other generation.
Housing, with $34.78, is the biggest daily expenditure for Millennials.
78% of Millennials say they prefer spending on experiences rather than things they desire.
The spending power of Millennials is $2.5 trillion.
Millennials spend 26% of their monthly income on rent or mortgage payments.
36% of Millennials are concerned with the cost of living.
30.3% of Millennials use Buy Now, Pay Later services.
Millennials do 54% of their shopping online.
48% of Millennials say they’ve spent money they didn’t have to keep up with their friends.
General Millennial Statistics
With 72.19 million people, Millennials are the largest generation group in the US.
The above figure translates to 21.5% of the entire US population. After Millennials, Baby Boomers are the second-largest generation group in the US, with 70.23 million people, followed by the 68.6 million Americans belonging to Generation Z. In addition, there are 65.8 million Gen Xers, 19.13 million Americans who belong to the Silent Generation, and just 890,000 US members of the Greatest Generation.
(Statista)
Millennials account for more than a third, or 35%, of the entire US workforce.
Millennial income statistics show that the largest number of US employees are Millennials, while Gen Xers are a close second, accounting for 33% of the US workforce. Furthermore, 25% of US employees are Baby Boomers, 5% are post-Millennials, and only 2% are people from the Silent and the Greatest Generations. Even though Millennials already account for the largest part of the US workforce, their share can become even bigger through immigration.
(Pew Research)
A Millennial-lead household has a mean disposable income of $84,975.
Only the households led by a Gen Xer have a higher mean disposable income of $113,455, according to the latest millennial financial statistics. Baby Boomer households have $78,508, Silent Generation households have $41,876, and Gen Z households have $38,635 of mean disposable income. The mean disposable income of Millennial-lead households is very close to all US households’ average of $84,352.
(Statista)
20.7% of the male Millennials in the US live with their parents.
In comparison, the percentage of female Americans between the ages of 25 and 34 who live with their parents is significantly lower, at 13.2%.
(Statista)
The average Millennial salary is $47,034 per year, or $905 a week.
Moreover, the average Millennial has a net worth of $8,000. The statistics further reveal that the starting salaries of Baby Boomers, when they were between 25 and 35 years old, which is the current age of Millennials, were 20% higher than what the Millennials are making today. Additionally, Millennials have 300% more student loan debt than their parents, on average, and are half as likely to own a home than the young adults in 1975.
(The Balance)
65% of the younger Millennials use mobile wallets.
Millennial payment preferences vary depending on the age of the consumers. For example, only 53% of the older Millennials, aged between 30 and 40, use mobile wallets. However, when it comes to using multiple mobile wallets, older Millennials lead the way, with 27% of them using three or more, while only 22% of the younger Millennials use at least three mobile wallets. Finally, 29% of younger Millennials prefer using mobile/online banking to conduct bank transactions, while the share of older Millennials who agree is 22%.
(Digital Transactions)
Millennials Spending Habits Statistics
Millennials spend a daily average of $208.77, more than any other generation.
The only other consumers that spend an average of over $200 on daily basis are older Gen Xers, aged between 45 and 54, who spend $202.48. Next on the list are the younger half of this generation, Gen Xers between 35 and 44, who spend $189.13, every day. Furthermore, younger Baby Boomers, between the ages 55 and 64, spend an average of $178.01, while older Baby Boomers, aged 65 and older, spend $135.73. Spending habits by generation statistics reveal that Gen Zers spend the least, out of all generations, with a daily average of $92.13.
(Sunmark)
Housing, with $34.78, is the biggest daily expenditure for Millennials.
The statistics also show Millennials’ average daily expenditures and they reveal that after housing, groceries with $10.89, is the second biggest expense for them. Moreover, Millennials spend an average of $9.36 on eating out, which is a bigger daily expense than their utility bills, on which they spend a daily average of $8.89. Data on Millennial spending habits also shows that they spend a daily average of $7.24 on entertainment, $6.19 on health insurance, $5.59 on clothing, and $5.52 on gas, which are some of their biggest daily expenses.
(Sunmark)
78% of Millennials say they prefer spending on experiences rather than things they desire.
Even though 55% of Millennials say they already spend more on events and life experiences than ever before, 72% say they would like to increase this type of spending over buying things in the following year.
(Event Brite)
The spending power of Millennials is $2.5 trillion.
The statistics also reveal that 81% of Millennials are employed, and their average monthly take-home pay is $3,100. In comparison, Generation Z consumers have a spending power of $34 billion, and the average monthly expenditures of teenagers are $115.
(YPulse)
Millennials spend 26% of their monthly income on rent or mortgage payments.
While more than a fourth of their monthly income goes to housing expenses, the second biggest portion of Millennials’ money, or 19%, goes to paying off their monthly bills, according to Millennial spending stats. They spend 11% of their monthly income on groceries, 10% on vehicle and transportation costs, and invest 7% in their retirement funds. Moreover, 6% of their money gets spent on dining out, 5% goes to their emergency savings fund, and they spend 3% on medical costs. The remaining 13% of their monthly income goes to other expenses, such as charity, physical fitness, etc.
(Bank of America)
36% of Millennials are concerned about the cost of living.
This is the top concern for the largest number of Millennials, followed by climate change which is the primary concern for 25% of them. How Millennials spend their money is definitely affected by their overall sense of insecurity. For example, 47% of Millennials say they live paycheck to paycheck and worry that they will not be able to cover all of their expenses. Additionally, 31% are not confident they will be able to retire in financial comfort, while 29% say they don’t feel financially secure. As a result, 33% of Millennials have taken a second, part-time or full-time job in addition to their primary work.
(Deloitte)
Millennial Buying Statistics
82% of Millennials say they would buy a product the first time they see it if they like it enough.
Additionally, 64% of them say they often make impulse purchases, while 70% admit they sometimes regret the purchases they made. Millennials are the most likely to splurge on travel, dining out, and electronics or tech purchases. However, 90% of millennials also say that if there is an item they want to buy, they watch carefully for sales before buying it. Finally, the latest Millennial purchasing trends show that 96% of Millennials say that getting a lot out of a purchase makes them feel good about themselves.
(5WPR)
Word of mouth has the biggest influence on Millennials’ purchasing behavior, according to 93% of Millennials.
In addition, 90% of Millennials say that online customer reviews have an influence on their purchase behavior, while 75% feel influenced by online ads. Moreover, 74% of them say their purchase behavior is influenced by online articles or blogs, and 72% feel influenced by the people they follow on Instagram. However, according to Millennial consumer trends, only 57% of them say they feel influenced by celebrity endorsements.
(5WPR)
30.3% of Millennials use Buy Now, Pay Later services.
The only generation that uses this type of services more than Millennials are Generation Z consumers, with 36.8%. In comparison, only 6.2% of Baby Boomers and 17.2% of Generation X consumers use this Buy Now, Pay Later services.
(Statista)
Millennials do 54% of their shopping online.
Furthermore, 81.3% of Millennials say they shop online at least once a month, while 67% of Millennials say that they prefer shopping online to in-store shopping. The most recent Millennial online shopping statistics also reveal that 45% of Millennials prefer buying online because they can run comparisons on products and prices, and eight out of ten Millennials never buy anything without reading a review about it first. Interestingly, 53% of Millennials prefer to look for details about a product online, even when they are already in the store.
(Invespcro)
48% of Millennials say they’ve spent money they didn’t have to keep up with their friends.
FOMO is a real problem for Millennials, and according to the Millennial spending stats, it is very common for them to overspend to avoid missing out on things. The most common purchases that put them into FOMO-induced debt include food for 47%, clothes for 41%, travel for 33%, and electronics for 25% of Millennials. The largest portion, or 32% of them, have gone into more than $500 of FOMO debt. Furthermore, 29% have only gone between $1 and $100, 20% have gone into $251 and $500, and 19% between $101 and $250 of FOMO-created debt.
(Credit Karma)
Millennials Money Habits Statistics
73% of Millennials say that they have personal savings.
The stats show that 59% of them have already saved more than $15,000, while 24% of Millennials have savings of over $100,000. Furthermore, 75% of Millennials are saving for retirement, 51% want to have an emergency fund, 42% are saving for travels, 32% are saving because they want to buy a home of their own, and 27% are saving for their child’s education.
(Bank of America)
Millennials start saving at 24, earlier than any other generation.
In comparison, Gen Xers started saving when they were 30, while Baby Boomers when they were 33. Common Millennial saving habits include always checking the account balance, practiced by 74%, and always tracking expenses, practiced by 55% of Millennials. Moreover, 46% of them say they always pay their credit card bill in full, and 31% say they always plan their budget. Additionally, 67% of Millennials say they use employer-sponsored retirement plans, 48% put money into savings every month, and 28% of the Millennials with savings, say they are investing in the market.
(Bank of America)
31% of Millennials with taxable accounts started investing when they were under 21.
While almost a third of Millennials develop investing habits before 21, only 14% of Gen Xers and 9% of baby boomers start investing that early. 50% of Millennials with taxable accounts say their parents talked to them about investing before they were 18, 23% say their family only talked to them about investing after reaching adulthood, and 12% say their parents never talked to them about investments. Moreover, 15% of Millennials who invest are extremely confident, 32% are very confident, and 43% are somewhat confident in their investment decision-making.
(CFA Institute)
Two-thirds, or 67% of Millennials, have credit card debt, with an average balance of $5,349.
Millennial debt statistics also show that 72% of Millennials have a non-mortgage debt of some sort, with the average Millennial owing $117,000. The lion’s share of Millennials, or 63%, believe that they will pay off their debt in one to five years, while 15% believe it will take between five and 10 years for their debt to be fully paid off. Only 8% of Millennials think they can pay off their debts in one year or less, while 9% believe it will take more than 10 years to do it. Unfortunately, 6% of Millennials believe they will never pay off their debt, according to the most recent Millennial consumer statistics.
(Real Estate Witch)
If they suddenly got a $10,000 windfall, 40% of Millennials say they would pay down debt with the money.
Another 20% of Millennials say they would put the $10,000 toward their new home fund, or invest it in the home they already own. Moreover, 11% say they would put the money toward their retirement fund, while 10% would invest it in the market. Only 4% of Millennials would spend the $10,000 on a holiday trip, and just 2% say they would spend it on material items.
(Bank of America)
Millennial Spending Statistics: FAQ
What do Millennials spend the most money on?
How much do Millennials spend per month?
What generation is spending the most?
How much money do Millennials have?
Conclusion
In summary, Millennials are the largest generation living in the world today, commanding the highest purchasing power. The shopping habits of Millennials include reading online reviews, using mobile payment methods, and buying online instead of in-store whenever possible. They prefer live experiences over material things and would overspend not to feel left out. Additionally, Millennials are anxious about money, so they start saving really young.
Sources:
