Top earners are saving more for retirement. Everyone else is saving less.

2 days ago 5

Daniel de Visé, USA TODAY

Wed, November 19, 2025 astatine 4:05 AM CST 4 min read

A caller study connected status savings paints a worrisome picture: Fewer workers are saving, and lone apical earners are expanding their contributions from twelvemonth to year.

The analysis, released Nov. 18 by the human capital absorption company Dayforce, draws on more than 1 million anonymized records for workers from 2021 through 2024. It is titled The Retirement Divide.

Much available data connected status savings comes from idiosyncratic concern firms and focuses only on their clients. This analysis covers the full full-time workforce. The report says it represents “the fullest representation to day of the existent authorities of status information successful America.”

The findings show many American workers losing crushed connected status savings betwixt 2021 and 2024, a span marked by rising ostentation and involvement rates, dwindling savings and mounting debt.

The stock of full-time workers participating successful status savings plans dipped from 79.4% successful 2021 to 78.7% successful 2024, the investigation found.

The mean magnitude contributed to a retirement relationship roseate successful those years, from $8,370 successful 2021 to $9,488 successful 2024. The mean savings complaint rose, arsenic well, from 8.8% to 9.3%.

But astir of the gains came from the apical earners.

Many workers are struggling to prevention for retirement, according to a caller study.

Among full-time workers earning betwixt $15,000 and $50,000 a year, retirement-plan information dropped from 58% successful 2022 to 52.9% successful 2024.

Participation rates dropped, arsenic well, for workers earning betwixt $50,000 and $150,000. Only employees earning much than $150,000 posted an summation successful retirement-savings participation.

“Nearly each of those gains person gone to higher-income workers,” said Jason Rahlan, planetary caput of sustainability and interaction astatine Dayforce. He said the study “should service arsenic some a wakeup telephone and a telephone to action.”

The mean status savings complaint dipped from 2022 to 2024 for each radical of earners Dayforce studied, except the apical tier:

For those earning $15,000 to $50,000, the status savings rate declined from 4.9% to 4.6% of income, little than fractional the savings complaint for apical earners.
For those earning $50,000 to $100,000, the savings complaint fell from 9.6% to 9.3%.

Total status contributions declined, arsenic well, for all but the highest earners:

For those earning $15,000 to $50,000, average annual contributions slipped from $1,918 in 2022 to $1,815 in 2024.
For those earning $50,000 to $100,000, mean contributions fell from $6,814 to $6,630.