The State of Unbanked America 2026: The FDIC's Own Numbers

Key Takeaways

4.2% of U.S. households — 5.6 million of them — have no bank account at all, the lowest rate since the FDIC started tracking this in 2009.
Black households (10.6%) and Hispanic households (9.5%) are unbanked at roughly 5 to 6 times the rate of white households (1.9%), per the FDIC's own 2023 survey.
The underbanked rate — households with an account who still rely heavily on costly nonbank services — is 14.2%, more than three times the unbanked rate, meaning the real scope of the problem is much bigger than the headline number suggests.

Quick answer

The FDIC's most recent survey (2023 data, released late 2024) found 4.2% of U.S. households unbanked — a record low — but that number hides real, persistent gaps by race and education, and a much larger 14.2% underbanked population that has an account but still pays for costly nonbank services on top of it.

The headline number, and what it's hiding

Every two years, the FDIC surveys American households on their banking status, in partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau. The 2023 survey — the most recent available — found the unbanked rate at 4.2%, the lowest since the survey began in 2009. That's real, measurable progress: 5.6 million households have no bank account, down from higher rates in every prior survey year.

The progress is genuine, but the aggregate number flattens two things worth pulling apart: who exactly makes up that 4.2%, and how many more households are technically banked but still functionally locked out of affordable financial services.

Who's actually unbanked

Black households

Unbanked rate: 10.6%
Multiple of the white household rate: ~5.6x

Hispanic households

Unbanked rate: 9.5%
Multiple of the white household rate: ~5.0x

White households

Unbanked rate: 1.9%
Multiple of the white household rate: —

Group	Unbanked rate	Multiple of the white household rate
Black households	10.6%	~5.6x
Hispanic households	9.5%	~5.0x
White households	1.9%	—

These are not small gaps. A Black household in America is more than five times as likely as a white household to have no bank account at all, and that disparity has persisted across every survey cycle the FDIC has run since 2009, even as the overall national rate has fallen. Lower-income, less-educated, disabled, and single-parent households are also significantly more likely to be unbanked than the national average — the disparities compound rather than operate independently.

Underbanked: the bigger, less-discussed number

Underbanked describes a household with a bank account that still relies heavily on nonbank financial services — check cashing, money orders, payday or pawn loans, rent-to-own agreements — for needs a bank account alone would typically cover. At 14.2%, the underbanked rate is more than three times the unbanked rate itself.

Education is a sharp dividing line here: households without a high school diploma are underbanked at roughly 23.1%, compared with about 10.4% for households with a college degree — a gap of more than 2x. Having a bank account, in other words, doesn't close the gap in financial-services cost and access on its own.

Watch Out: Underbanked is easy to miss because these households already have an account — nothing about their banking status looks unusual from the outside. The cost shows up in what they pay elsewhere: check-cashing fees, payday-loan interest, and money-order charges that a standard checking account wouldn't require at all.

Why households stay unbanked

The FDIC's survey has consistently found the same top reasons, year after year:

Not having enough money to meet a minimum balance requirement.
Distrust of banks.
Account fees being too high or unpredictable — a legitimate concern, given how much variation exists between fee-heavy and fee-free checking accounts.
Privacy concerns.

Notably, access is rarely the barrier. Most unbanked households live within a reasonable distance of a bank branch or have smartphone access to open an account online — the reasons are almost entirely about cost, trust, and past experience, not physical availability. That's also why a past ChexSystems record matters so much here: it's a real, structural barrier layered on top of everything above. See our ChexSystems explainer for what that report actually tracks.

What being unbanked or underbanked actually costs

Nonbank financial services aren't free — they're often meaningfully more expensive than a standard bank account for the same transaction:

Check cashing: typically 1% to 5% of the check's value, versus free deposit at a bank.
Payday loans: commonly carry APRs in the triple digits.
Money orders and prepaid cards: per-transaction fees that a fee-free checking account wouldn't charge at all.

Over a year, these add up to real money — routinely hundreds of dollars more than a no-fee checking account would cost for the same activity. Our full report on the cost of being poor covers this "poverty premium" pattern more broadly, of which banking access is one piece.

The path back in

If cost or a past account issue is the barrier, both have real, specific fixes:

A past ChexSystems record doesn't have to be permanent — check your report, dispute anything inaccurate, and look at second-chance checking accounts that don't screen against it.
Fee concerns are addressable directly — a growing number of accounts charge no monthly fee and require no minimum balance, removing the two most commonly cited reasons households give for staying unbanked.

Methodology

Figures in this report come directly from the FDIC's 2023 National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households, conducted in partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau and released in November 2024 — the most recent edition of this biennial survey as of this writing. The FDIC's next survey follows its regular two-year cycle. Nothing here is individualized financial advice.

How we source this. All figures are attributed to the FDIC's own published survey, cited below with dates. See our methodology and editorial team. We take no payment for organic rankings.

Sources

What to do next

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Frequently Asked Questions

What percentage of Americans are unbanked in 2026?

The most recent FDIC data (the 2023 National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households, released in late 2024) found 4.2% of U.S. households — about 5.6 million households — had no checking or savings account at all. That's the lowest unbanked rate since the FDIC began this biennial survey in 2009.

What's the difference between unbanked and underbanked?

Unbanked means a household has no checking or savings account at all. Underbanked means a household does have an account but still relies heavily on nonbank financial services — check cashing, money orders, payday or pawn loans, rent-to-own — to meet needs a bank account alone would typically cover. The underbanked rate (14.2%) is more than three times higher than the unbanked rate (4.2%), meaning far more households are technically banked but still paying the costs of being effectively unbanked.

Which groups are most likely to be unbanked?

The FDIC's 2023 data shows sharp disparities: Black households were unbanked at 10.6%, Hispanic households at 9.5%, versus 1.9% for white households — roughly 5 to 6 times the white rate. Lower-income, less-educated, disabled, and single-parent households are also significantly more likely to be unbanked than the national average.

Why do unbanked households stay unbanked?

The FDIC's survey has consistently found the top reasons are not having enough money to meet a minimum balance requirement, distrust of banks, account fees being too high or unpredictable, and privacy concerns. Notably, the reasons are more often about cost and trust than about access — most unbanked households live near a bank branch, they've chosen not to use one.

What does being unbanked or underbanked actually cost?

Real money. Check cashing services typically charge 1% to 5% of a check's value; payday loans commonly carry APRs in the triple digits; money orders and prepaid cards add per-transaction fees that a standard checking account doesn't charge. Over a year, these nonbank alternatives routinely cost hundreds of dollars more than a fee-free checking account would for the same transactions.

How can someone who's unbanked get a bank account?

Start by checking whether ChexSystems is the barrier — a past account closure or unpaid overdraft can block a standard application even with no credit issues at all. If it is, second-chance checking accounts specifically don't screen against it. If cost is the barrier, many banks now offer accounts with no monthly fee and no minimum balance requirement, removing the two most commonly cited reasons for staying unbanked.

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