To calculate the M1 money supply, add three components the Federal Reserve tracks each month: currency in circulation, demand deposits, and other liquid deposits. That sum is M1. For January 2026, the seasonally adjusted total came to about $19.2 trillion, with currency accounting for roughly $2.35 trillion and deposits making up the rest.1Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Money Stock Measures – H.6
The Formula
M1 = Currency in Circulation + Demand Deposits + Other Liquid Deposits
No weighting, no ratios, no adjustments beyond what the Fed already applies to each component. You add the dollar value of each piece at a given point in time. The Fed publishes each component separately in billions of dollars, so you can either verify the total yourself or read it straight off the release.
The Three Components
Currency in Circulation
All physical Federal Reserve notes and coins held by the public. The figure excludes cash sitting inside the U.S. Treasury, Federal Reserve Bank vaults, and the vaults of depository institutions, because that money isn’t available to spend. As of January 2026, currency in circulation stood at about $2.35 trillion.1Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Money Stock Measures – H.6
Demand Deposits
Funds in checking accounts at commercial banks that a customer can withdraw or spend at any time without advance notice. The Fed’s figure excludes balances held by other depository institutions, the U.S. government, and foreign banks. Under Regulation D, demand deposits are classified as transaction accounts.2Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Regulation D Reserve Requirements of Depository Institutions
Other Liquid Deposits
Two sub-items combined into one line. The first is other checkable deposits: Negotiable Order of Withdrawal (NOW) accounts, automatic transfer service (ATS) accounts, and credit union share draft accounts. The second is savings deposits, including money market deposit accounts.3Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Money Stock Measures – H.6 Release
Savings deposits are the reason this component is now the largest of the three by a wide margin. Before May 2020, they weren’t part of M1 at all. That change is important enough to explain on its own, because it will break any calculation that spans the transition.
Running the Calculation With Current Data
Using the January 2026 H.6 release, the seasonally adjusted M1 figure was $19,194.4 billion. The non-seasonally adjusted figure was $19,205.2 billion.1Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Money Stock Measures – H.6 Currency contributed roughly $2.35 trillion. The remaining $16.8 trillion or so sat in deposit accounts. The deposit side dwarfs cash in hand, which reflects an economy where most transactions happen electronically.
Whether to use the seasonally adjusted or non-seasonally adjusted number depends on what you’re doing. Raw data includes predictable calendar-driven spikes, like the surge in cash demand every December during holiday shopping. Seasonally adjusted figures strip those recurring patterns out, so you can see whether M1 is genuinely growing or shrinking rather than just following the year. For trend analysis, use the seasonally adjusted series. For a snapshot of what was actually in the system on a given date, use the non-seasonally adjusted figure.
One more thing to watch: the Fed revises previously published figures as new disaggregated data comes in from bank reporting forms. Some revisions are small; historically they’ve ranged from $1 billion to as much as $20 billion for certain adjustment categories.4Federal Reserve Board. Money Stock Measures – H.6 Release – Technical QAs If you’re citing a specific month’s figure, check whether it’s been revised since you last pulled it.
The May 2020 Series Break
Any M1 calculation that reaches back before May 2020 will produce misleading results unless you account for a major reclassification. In March 2020, the Fed reduced reserve requirement ratios to zero percent for all depository institutions. That made the regulatory distinction between transaction accounts and savings deposits unnecessary, since reserves no longer had to be held against either. On April 24, 2020, the Fed also eliminated the six-per-month transfer limit on savings accounts under Regulation D. Savings deposits suddenly had the same practical liquidity as checking accounts.4Federal Reserve Board. Money Stock Measures – H.6 Release – Technical QAs
Starting with the May 2020 data point, the Fed folded savings deposits into M1. The reclassification added approximately $11.2 trillion to M1 in a single month.4Federal Reserve Board. Money Stock Measures – H.6 Release – Technical QAs No new money was created. The same dollars that had been counted only in M2 were now also counted in M1. M2 itself didn’t change, because it had always included savings deposits.
The consequence for your calculation: pre-May 2020 and post-May 2020 M1 are different measures with the same name. Before the reclassification, M1 hovered around $4 to $5 trillion. After it, M1 jumped above $16 trillion. The Fed itself describes this as a “series break.”5Federal Reserve Economic Data. Savings Are Now More Liquid and Part of M1 Money Year-over-year growth rates that cross the boundary are meaningless without adjustment.
Where the Numbers Live
The H.6 Statistical Release
The Federal Reserve’s primary publication for money supply data is the H.6 release, titled “Money Stock Measures.” It comes out on the fourth Tuesday of every month, generally at 1:00 p.m. Eastern. If that Tuesday falls on a federal holiday, publication shifts to the next business day.6Federal Reserve Board. Money Stock Measures – H.6 Release Dates
The release contains two main tables. Table 1 shows M1 and M2 totals as monthly averages for the most recent 17 months, in both seasonally adjusted and non-seasonally adjusted formats. Table 2 breaks M1 into its individual components: currency, demand deposits, and other liquid deposits. Both tables report figures in billions of dollars.1Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Money Stock Measures – H.6 Table 2 is the one you want if you plan to add the components yourself.
The FRED Database
For historical work, the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) database maintained by the St. Louis Fed is the more flexible tool. The seasonally adjusted monthly M1 series uses the identifier M1SL, and the data goes back to January 1959.7ALFRED | St. Louis Fed. M1SL Series You can chart it, download it, and adjust the date range. An older weekly series simply called “M1” has been discontinued; FRED redirects to M1SL as the current replacement.8Federal Reserve Economic Data. M1 (DISCONTINUED) FRED also hosts the individual component series if you want to pull currency or demand deposits separately and build the calculation yourself.
M1 Versus M2
Keep the two aggregates straight while you’re calculating. M2 includes everything in M1 plus two additional categories that take slightly more effort to spend:
- Small-denomination time deposits: certificates of deposit and similar instruments issued in amounts under $100,000, minus any IRA and Keogh balances held at depository institutions.1Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Money Stock Measures – H.6
- Retail money market fund shares: balances in money market mutual funds available to individual investors, again minus IRA and Keogh balances.9Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. What Is the Money Supply? Is It Important?
The distinction is about friction. A debit card linked to a checking account works in seconds. Cashing out a six-month CD early takes a penalty and at least a phone call. Retail money market funds typically require a redemption step before cash reaches a bank account. Those friction points are why they sit in M2 but not M1. Because M1 is now a subset of M2, any increase in M1 also increases M2 by the same amount, and the gap between the two reflects how much money is parked in less-liquid instruments rather than sitting ready to spend.