Unbanked Households

Definition

Percentage of households with neither a checking nor savings account, 2011.

Description

A bank or credit union account are often the first step in saving, planning for the future, building credit and climbing the economic ladder, but almost ten million American households don't have one. Households without an account may spend a significant amount of money on financial services for which most Americans pay little to nothing. The average full-time worker without a bank account can spend $40,000 over the course of his or her lifetime just to cash paychecks. In addition, those without an account don’t have a safe place to store their money, which makes them more likely to be victims of theft and unable to safely access money during emergencies.

Beyond issues of cost and safety, unbanked individuals do not have a way to save and build a personal safety net, turn savings into asset investments, or to build the robust and positive credit history needed to access affordable credit and succeed in today’s increasingly complex consumer marketplace. When combined with the rate of underbanked households, this measure can paint a broad picture of which states have more households that are financially underserved.

For more information on the unbanked, see the FDIC's economicinclusion.gov and joinbankon.org, where you can also find estimates of the unbanked at the local level. 

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Unbanked Households

State	Percent of Unbanked Households (%)	Rank
United States	8.2%
Alabama	10.2%	41
Alaska	5.2%	15
Arizona	11.6%	48
Arkansas	12.3%	49
California	7.8%	32
Colorado	5.4%	18
Connecticut	5.3%	16
Delaware	6.7%	25
District of Columbia	10.9%	42
Florida	7.3%	28
Georgia	11.5%	45
Hawaii	3.8%	6
Idaho	5.7%	20
Illinois	7.6%	30
Indiana	7.8%	32
Iowa	4.4%	9
Kansas	7.1%	27
Kentucky	9.9%	40
Louisiana	11.5%	45
Maine	3.7%	4
Maryland	5.6%	19
Massachusetts	4.9%	14
Michigan	7.7%	31
Minnesota	4.1%	7
Mississippi	15.1%	51
Missouri	9.5%	37
Montana	4.8%	13
Nebraska	3.7%	4
Nevada	7.5%	29
New Hampshire	1.9%	1
New Jersey	6.6%	23
New Mexico	11.5%	45
New York	9.6%	39
North Carolina	9.3%	35
North Dakota	5.3%	16
Ohio	8.8%	34
Oklahoma	10.9%	42
Oregon	4.3%	8
Pennsylvania	6.1%	22
Rhode Island	7.0%	26
South Carolina	9.3%	35
South Dakota	4.4%	9
Tennessee	10.9%	42
Texas	12.8%	50
Utah	2.8%	2
Vermont	3.4%	3
Virginia	6.6%	23
Washington	4.5%	11
West Virginia	9.5%	37
Wisconsin	4.5%	11
Wyoming	5.8%	21

Source

2011 FDIC National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households. Washington, DC: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, 2012.