Scott Sumner, an economist at George Mason University, wrote in an October appraisal that Ms. Yellen’s performance was “near perfection.” He added that, at the end of her tenure, Ms. Yellen will likely have achieved the Fed’s dual mandate of maximizing employment and stabilizing inflation “better than any other chair in history.”

There were plenty of critics along the way. A coalition of labor and community groups, the Fed Up campaign, pressed Ms. Yellen throughout her term to increase the Fed’s stimulus campaign. Republicans and conservative economists fretted that the Fed was doing too much.

Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at MUFG Union Bank in New York, said that the persistence of low interest rates had been painful for banks and other financial firms, many of which also resented Ms. Yellen’s focus on strengthening financial regulation. “It’s not goodbye, good luck from Wall Street,” he said. “It’s don’t let the door hit you on the backside on your way out.”

Eleanor Herlands, a 92-year-old retiree in Stamford, Conn., said that she and other savers had suffered during the long years of low interest rates.

“They pushed people to buy stocks, people that knew nothing about the stock market,” said Mrs. Herlands, who opted instead to keep her money in savings accounts. “I made my own choices, but I never dreamed that it would go on this long. Now I’m pleased that I’m finally getting at least a little relief.”

She said she was now earning an average of 1.6 percent on her accounts.

Ms. Yellen, 71, is the first person in modern history to serve a four-year term as Fed chairman without being appointed to a second term. She has not said what she plans to do next.

She leaves behind some challenges for her successor.

Fed officials in recent months have begun to debate whether the central bank should adjust its approach to monetary policy before the next downturn. The Fed’s traditional approach is to stimulate growth by reducing interest rates. But rates, which reflect real borrowing costs and inflation, are expected to remain low for the foreseeable future.