A new analysis of billions of bank transactions is challenging long-held assumptions about who participates in the capital markets, and what keeps them there.
Research from Commonwealth, in partnership with The BlackRock Foundation and the JPMorganChase Institute, finds that Americans living on low and moderate incomes have entered retail investing at sharply higher rates since 2020 and are committing more of their paychecks to the market once they do.
Drawing on deidentified data from more than 25 million active checking account holders between 2015 and 2024 — roughly 10 million of whom fall into the bottom two income quintiles — the study isolates investment transfers from checking accounts to external brokerage accounts. It follows on from a report the partners released last fall.
Since 2020, the number of retail investors living on low and moderate incomes has expanded by 2.7 times, a 167% increase compared with the prior five-year period.
Participation rates tell a similar story. Among households with median take-home pay of about $29,000, the share investing rose from 6% in 2015–2019 to 17% in 2020–2024. For those earning roughly $51,000, participation climbed from 9% to 24%.
So, while higher earners still invest at greater rates overall, growth has been fastest among those with less income; a reversal of traditional market demographics, representing an expanding pipeline of mass-affluent and aspiring investors who are forming habits earlier.
The growth story is not limited to account openings, the report shows.
Median five-year investment contributions among these investors rose from $1,980 in the 2015–2019 period to $3,500 in 2020–2024 — a 77% increase. Even more notable is that, as a share of income, these households are investing about 30% more than they did before 2020.
That shift suggests that retail engagement among lower-income households is not merely episodic speculation driven by stimulus checks or pandemic-era volatility. It reflects a structural change in savings allocation behavior.
For advisors, that may signal greater receptivity to goal-based planning, automated investing solutions and incremental contribution strategies — particularly if paired with tools that help stabilize cash flow.
“More Americans are becoming owners of the US economy, allowing them to participate directly in its growth,” said Claire Chamberlain, President of The BlackRock Foundation. “This presents a critical opportunity to ensure these newer investors are set up to succeed. As our understanding of this evolving investment landscape deepens, we are better equipped to support investors living on low and moderate incomes on their path toward long-term financial security.”
If there is one variable that predicts ongoing participation, it is not income alone — it is liquid savings.
The analysis shows that investors living on low and moderate incomes are significantly more likely to continue investing when they have at least two weeks’ worth of expenses in readily available savings — roughly $1,500 to $2,000.
This modest cash buffer appears to act as a behavioral stabilizer, increasing the odds that households keep contributing even amid income variability.
Emergency savings and investment accumulation should not be treated as competing priorities for this segment. Building a baseline liquidity cushion may directly reinforce long-term investing persistence.
Transaction timing also reveals predictable “surge moments.”
More than one third of annual investment deposits by this group occur in December/January and March/April. Specifically, 18.5% of yearly contributions cluster around December and January, and another 18% occur in March and April.
These months coincide with common income spikes: year-end bonuses, raises and tax refunds.
Importantly, the percentage of people investing each month does not fluctuate as dramatically as the dollar amounts invested. That indicates participation is relatively steady, but contribution size expands during temporary income boosts.
For advisory firms, this seasonality opens the door to targeted engagement strategies — refund-linked investment nudges, bonus-allocation campaigns, or automated “percentage of windfall” capture tools.
The report builds on prior survey and qualitative research conducted through the “Investor Diaries” initiative, but this installment focuses squarely on transaction-level behavior.
By examining billions of real-world transactions across nearly a decade, the findings suggest that lower- and moderate-income households are not simply experimenting with markets. They are establishing repeat patterns shaped by cash flow, savings buffers and income timing.
This cohort may not yet fit the traditional high-net-worth mold. But it is growing rapidly, allocating a larger share of earnings to investing and responding predictably to liquidity conditions.
Advisors who align planning strategies with cash-flow realities — integrating emergency savings, automated contributions and windfall capture mechanisms — may be best positioned to serve what is quickly becoming one of retail investing’s most consequential segments.
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