![\"(Photoschmidt](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/PI_26.08.20_Cashless_featured.png\")
(Photoschmidt via Getty Images)<\/p>\n(Photoschmidt via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Today, 42% of U.S. adults say they don\u2019t use cash for any purchases in a typical week. This is up from 24% in 2015.<\/p>\n
Fewer \u2013 12% \u2013 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.<\/p>\n
Going cashless is more common now than a decade ago<\/p>\n
% of U.S. adults who say they make __ of their purchases in a typical week using cash<\/p>\n
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Note: Go to the topline for full question wording. Those who did not give an answer are not shown.<\/p>\n
Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted May 26-June 1, 2026.<\/p>\n
PEW RESEARCH CENTER<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tShare on X<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tShare on Facebook<\/p>\n
Going cashless is more common now than a decade ago<\/p>\n
% of U.S. adults who say they make __ of their purchases in a typical week using cash<\/p>\n
All or almost allSomeNone2026124642202214444120181852292015245124<\/p>\n
Note: Go to the topline for full question wording. Those who did not give an answer are not shown.<\/p>\n
Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted May 26-June 1, 2026.<\/p>\n
PEW RESEARCH CENTER<\/p>\n
ChartData<\/p>\n
Download ImageShare<\/p>\n
About this research<\/p>\n
This Pew Research Center analysis looks at how often Americans are using and carrying cash.<\/p>\n
Why did we do this?<\/p>\n
Pew Research Center does research to inform the public, journalists and decision-makers. This research builds on our past work studying the cashless economy<\/a>.<\/p>\n How did we do this?<\/p>\n 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\u2019s American Trends Panel. The survey represents the views of the full U.S. adult population.<\/p>\n Here are the questions we used for this analysis<\/a>, the topline<\/a> and the survey methodology<\/a>.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Higher-income Americans remain much more likely to go cashless for purchases<\/p>\n % of U.S. adults who say they make __ of their purchases in a typical week using cash, by annual household income<\/p>\n \t\t\t \t\t\t Note: Go to the topline for full question wording. Those who said \u201cSome\u201d or did not give an answer are not shown.<\/p>\n Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted May 26-June 1, 2026.<\/p>\n PEW RESEARCH CENTER<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tShare on X<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tShare on Facebook<\/p>\n Higher-income Americans remain much more likely to go cashless for purchases<\/p>\n % of U.S. adults who say they make __ of their purchases in a typical week using cash, by annual household income<\/p>\n AmountYear<$30K$30K-$49,999$50K-$99,999$100K+All or almost all20262616104All or almost all2022302084All or almost all20183120116All or almost all20153824148None202624334358None202224354559None201818273543None201515243036<\/p>\n Note: Go to the topline for full question wording. Those who said \u201cSome\u201d or did not give an answer are not shown.<\/p>\n Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted May 26-June 1, 2026.<\/p>\n PEW RESEARCH CENTER<\/p>\n ChartData<\/p>\n Download ImageShare<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Younger adults stand out for never using cash. About half of adults under 30 (51%) say they don\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n Adults under 50 are still more likely than older adults to go cashless<\/p>\n % of U.S. adults who say they make none of their purchases in a typical week using cash<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t Note: Go to the topline for full question wording. Those who did not give an answer or gave other responses are not shown.<\/p>\n Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted May 26-June 1, 2026.<\/p>\n PEW RESEARCH CENTER<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tShare on X<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tShare on Facebook<\/p>\n Adults under 50 are still more likely than older adults to go cashless<\/p>\n % of U.S. adults who say they make none of their purchases in a typical week using cash<\/p>\n Ages 18-2930-4950-6465+201529282019201834352225202246493433202651463733<\/p>\n Note: Go to the topline for full question wording. Those who did not give an answer or gave other responses are not shown.<\/p>\n Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted May 26-June 1, 2026.<\/p>\n PEW RESEARCH CENTER<\/p>\n ChartData<\/p>\n Download ImageShare<\/p>\n How common is carrying cash today?<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n About one-in-five U.S. adults say they have cash on them sometimes. And 32% say they rarely or never do.<\/p>\n Nearly half of U.S. adults say they carry cash always or most of the time, but young adults are far less likely<\/p>\n % of U.S. adults who say they carry physical cash with them \u2026<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t Note: Those who did not give an answer are not shown.<\/p>\n Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted May 26-June 1, 2026.<\/p>\n PEW RESEARCH CENTER<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tShare on X<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tShare on Facebook<\/p>\n Nearly half of U.S. adults say they carry cash always or most of the time, but young adults are far less likely<\/p>\n % of U.S. adults who say they carry physical cash with them \u2026<\/p>\n GroupAlways\/Most of the timeSometimesRarely\/NeverU.S. adultsAll462232Ages 18-29Ages29264530-49Ages35254050-64Ages53202765+Ages691614<\/p>\n Note: Those who did not give an answer are not shown.<\/p>\n Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted May 26-June 1, 2026.<\/p>\n PEW RESEARCH CENTER<\/p>\n ChartData<\/p>\n Download ImageShare<\/p>\n But having cash on hand doesn\u2019t always mean it\u2019s being used. Indeed, 26% of Americans who carry cash always or most of the time say they don\u2019t use it for any of their typical purchases.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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%.<\/p>\n Note: Here are the questions we used for this analysis<\/a>, the topline<\/a> and the survey methodology<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Photoschmidt via Getty Images) Today, 42% of U.S. adults say they don\u2019t use cash for any purchases in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":605422,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[72,113,61,60],"class_list":["post-605421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=605421"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605421\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/605422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=605421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=605421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=605421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Chart\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787769884_36_PI_26.08.20_Cashless_featured.png\")
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