1 in 7 Americans May Be Owed Money

Billions in Unclaimed Money Across the U.S.—Here’s How to Check If Some Is Yours

It might sound surprising, but there’s a good chance you—or someone you know—has money sitting unclaimed.

And it’s not a small amount.

A Nationwide Pool of Unclaimed Funds

According to National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators, billions of dollars in unclaimed money and property are currently being held by states, financial institutions, and government agencies across the United States.

Even more surprising?

About 1 in 7 Americans may have unclaimed funds waiting to be recovered.

In just one year—between July 2023 and June 2024—states returned more than $4.49 billion to rightful owners.

What Counts as “Unclaimed Property”?

Unclaimed property generally falls into two categories:

Tangible property
This includes physical items such as:

Contents of safe deposit boxes (like jewelry or collectibles)
Paper stock or bond certificates
Items left behind with businesses for storage or repair

Intangible property
This is far more common and includes:

Forgotten bank accounts
Uncashed paychecks or refunds
Stocks and dividends
Utility deposits
Insurance payouts or life insurance policies
Unredeemed gift certificates (in some states)
Trust distributions and annuities

In many cases, people simply lose track of accounts, move, or never receive payments that were sent to old addresses.

How to Find Out If You’re Owed Money

The good news: checking is free—and relatively easy.

You can search for unclaimed property through:

MissingMoney.com
Unclaimed.org

Both sites allow you to search by state.

You can also check federal sources through USA.gov, which provides links to:

Unclaimed federal funds
Missing wages through the Department of Labor
Unredeemed U.S. savings bonds
Unclaimed tax refunds

Important IRS Reminder

The Internal Revenue Service notes that millions of tax refunds go unclaimed each year.

But there’s a deadline.

Taxpayers typically have three years from the original filing deadline to claim a refund. After that, the money becomes property of the U.S. Treasury.

Why It Matters

For some, it might be a small amount—a forgotten deposit or old refund.

For others, it could be significantly more.

Either way, it’s money that belongs to someone.

And with just a few minutes of searching, it might be possible to find out if some of it belongs to you.