Equifax Market Pulse Index 3Q 2025 Generational Insights: Gen Z Makes Finan ...

EQUIFAX HAS RELEASED ITS THIRD QUARTER 2025 MARKET PULSE INDEX REPORT, which offers a multidimensional measure of U.S. consumer financial health combining data on consumer credit, debt, income, capacity and assets. With Index values ranging between 1-100, with 100 representing the greatest financial strength, the Market Pulse Index offers a holistic picture of consumer economic well-being and enables comparisons of financial capacity across different demographics and generations.

Generational data from the latest Market Pulse Index highlights shifting momentum across the U.S. population, in particular, growing financial progress among Generation Z. In the third quarter of 2025, Gen Z surpassed Millennials in average Market Pulse Index value, with Gen Z recording an Index value of 59.04 and Millennials recording an Index value of 58.82. While Millennials have remained relatively flat, Gen Z saw a 0.71% increase this quarter, suggesting that as some in Gen Z progress in their careers, their financial stability is growing and moving closer to the national average.

"We're seeing early but important financial momentum among Gen Z but with wide variability across low and high Market Pulse Index values," said Emmaline Aliff, Advisory Leader at Equifax. "Even with that variability, the financial momentum we're seeing among the Gen Z population presents lenders and retailers with a timely opportunity to build long-term relationships with a rapidly expanding economic force."

Generation X posted an Index value of 60.9, while Baby Boomers reached 64.5. Traditionalists recorded the highest Index value at 65.7 and saw the largest quarter over quarter increase (+1.3%), helping underscore the stabilizing effect of long-term savings. Distribution curves (see chart below) further show that older generations may benefit from accumulated assets that provide more consistent financial stability, while Millennials display a more concentrated distribution, with some thriving and others facing challenges such as high housing costs and childcare.

The chart above visualizes the financial diversity within each generation and here are the findings:

• The Gen Z shift - while Gen Z still sits further to the left, their curve is moving rightward with a flatter curve. This indicates a "wide ranging experience", reflecting some improving financial stability on average as more of this cohort enters the workforce and builds credit, but also may be benefitting from generational wealth that offers near-term stability. Additionally, the number of financially active Gen Z consumers now rivals the current size of the Traditionalist generation. This growth offers a clear opportunity for lenders to build relationships with a generation that is gaining new consumers every day.

• The stability of age - the curves for older generations (Boomers, Traditionalists) sit furthest to the right and are more condensed. This visualizes the stabilizing effect of accumulated assets - older consumers are more consistently financially stable, with fewer individuals falling into the lower-Index areas.

• The Millennial spread - Millennials show a more concentrated distribution that lags slightly behind. Some Millennials are thriving, yet a significant number are facing hurdles like high housing costs and childcare, keeping a significant portion of them from moving into the higher-Index ranges.

View the complete Equifax third quarter 2025 Equifax Market Pulse Index Report here.