Frugal America: New Yorkers put more income into savings account than any other state, survey shows

NEW YORK — When you think of New York, the first thing that comes to mind probably isn’t affordability. Despite its pricey reputation however, a new survey finds New Yorkers are the most savings-conscious residents in all 50 states.

A OnePoll survey of 5,000 Americans, 100 from each state, reveals New Yorkers are putting 14.5 percent of their income towards savings goals or other investment accounts. Georgia came in second place with 12.9 percent, followed by Texas at 12.7 percent. Only 10 other states posted double-digit savings percentages. At the bottom of the list is Tennessee (7%), Idaho (6.7%) and Vermont (6.5%).

Savings by State

According to the poll, commissioned by Slickdeals, 58 percent of respondents say that COVID-19 have completely changed how they approach savings. Another 53 percent say they’ve started saving for different things since the pandemic started.

It’s worth noting that states with the highest percentages of income going towards savings doesn’t necessarily mean those residents have the most amount of money saved. The study shows that the average American has $17,135 locked away in a savings or investment account. People from South Dakota lead the way with an average of $24,497 in savings. The states with the least amount of savings include West Virginia ($6,936) and Tennessee ($9,628).

Saving for a rainy day

Of those surveyed, the top thing Americans save up for is an emergency of some kind (32%) followed closely by retirement (31%), with a new car coming in at a distant third (20%). Researchers add that Americans are now making a much greater effort to put money away. Nearly six in ten (59%) say they are officially cutting back on their spending to support this effort.

Of those cutting back, taking advantage of deals and discounts instead of buying at retail price (45%) was a popular method. Other cost-cutting measures include getting less take-out (44%) and making coffee at home rather than getting their caffeine fix from a pricey café.

“Cutting back on your spending does not always require drastically altering your lifestyle,” says Ryan Tronier, senior personal finance editor at Slickdeals. “Once saving money becomes a priority, you can start to make minor changes that start to add up over time.”

Is retirement a fantasy?

One of the more concerning stats to come from the survey is that just over one in three Americans (35 percent) actually think they will be able to retire some day. Younger Americans are the most likely to feel this way with Gen Z and millennial respondents being the least likely to say they feel as if they’ll be able to retire in the future.

“Making smart purchase decisions and looking for deals or coupons is a great way to accelerate your savings. At Slickdeals, we’ve assembled the largest community of savvy shoppers so users can score the best deals on the best products, with insight from millions of real people,” Tronier adds.

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