LendingClub Corporation (NYSE: LC), the parent company of LendingClub Bank, America's leading digital marketplace bank, today released findings from its ninth edition of the Reality Check: Paycheck-To-Paycheck research series, conducted in partnership with PYMNTS.com.

The Credit Edition examines the growing shares of U.S. consumers in all economic brackets living paycheck to paycheck, and the impact on their ability to access credit and other expense management tools. 

Key takeaway: Living paycheck to paycheck has become the dominant way people manage their cashflow in the United States, with close to two-thirds of the U.S. population, 64% or about 166 million adults, doing so in March 2022.

Living paycheck to paycheck means devoting all of one's salary to expenses with little to nothing left over at the end of the month, yet many of these consumers remain credit worthy, actively managing their cash flows in real time. In fact, close to one-quarter of consumers living paycheck to paycheck report a credit score higher than the FICO average of 750.

"The number of people living paycheck to paycheck today is reminiscent of the early days of the pandemic and it has become the dominant lifestyle across income brackets," said Anuj Nayar, Financial Health Officer at LendingClub. "As inflation we have not seen in a generation takes more of our paychecks for everyday needs, Americans across incomes and credit scores are increasingly relying on credit products just to get by.  That is why the financial services industry must offer better tools to help bridge the gap."