High-income earners move back into childhood bedrooms, use candles instead of lamps to make ends meet

With high inflation and rising interest rates on consumer debt, an increasing percentage of workers considered to be high-income earners now say they live paycheck to paycheck.

According to a recent survey by the banking firm LendingClub and the payments news website PYMNTS, 64% of a representative sample of nearly 4,000 U.S. consumers now say they are just getting by. That’s an increase from 61% the previous year.

Among the new cohort of people who say they are newly living paycheck to paycheck, 86% pull in more than $100,000 annually, the survey found. Given that the median household income in the U.S. is $70,784, the survey shows the soaring cost of living in America is catching up to even more well-off U.S. residents.

“The effects of inflation are eating into every American’s wallet, and as the Fed’s efforts to curb inflation drive up the cost of debt, we are seeing near-record numbers of Americans living paycheck to paycheck,” said Anuj Nayar, the financial health officer at LendingClub.