From Federal Reserve 2015 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice: 

Answer: Median amount of cash held declined from $29 in 2012 to $21 in 2015.

Here is the distribution by dollar amount:

Questions:

• How much cash do you have in your wallet now?
• What do you use cash to purchase these days?
• Is it surprising to you that 33% of people in 2015 walked around with less than $10 in their wallets?
• What do you anticipate this survey will look like in five more years?
• How do you think that cash holdings would vary by age? Do your parents carry more cash around than you?

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Check out this NGPF Data Crunch on How We Pay for Stuff

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

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