Americans are down on the economy and concerned about costs: Polls

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As the U.S. concludes its fifth month of conflict in Iran, which has caused oil shortages, driven up energy prices and increased inflation, majorities of Americans say they are very concerned about the cost of things they buy, rate the economy negatively and expect it to get worse, according to several polls conducted this month.

The findings reflect a deeply pessimistic economic mood as the country heads to the November midterm elections. CNN polling found just 23% of Americans rating the economy as good and 77% rating it poorly. The Pew Research Center found about three-quarters rating economic conditions negatively and Fox News polling found three-quarters rating the economy negatively, including 41% calling it poor.

Concern over costs

Inflation rose 3.5% in June compared to a year earlier, a relief from the prior month’s rate of 4.2%, but Americans are still exceptionally worried about prices.

Majorities of Americans in the Pew poll said they were “very concerned” about the cost of healthcare (69%), the price of food and consumer goods (66%), the cost of housing (64%), the price of gasoline (56%) and the price of electricity (54%).

The share of Americans saying they were very concerned about the cost of gasoline is up from 34% in January of this year; all of the other levels of concern have barely shifted since then.

Democrats were more likely than Republicans to voice concern about most of the economic issues measured, with the widest gaps on unemployment and the costs of healthcare, housing, food and other consumer goods.

A Washington Post/Ipsos poll found two-thirds of Americans calling groceries unaffordable this month (66%), up from 45% before the war in Iran began in February. About three-quarters of Americans in the CNN poll said that gas prices had caused financial hardship for their household, including over 2 in 10 who said that hardship was severe. Even more Americans said President Donald Trump did not have a clear plan for handling the increase in gas prices.

A Quinnipiac poll found 88% of voters saying inflation was a serious problem.

The Fox News poll found three-quarters of registered voters saying inflation had caused financial hardship for them and their families, including about one-third (34%) saying inflation had caused serious hardship, up 8 points from last year.

Americans on the future of the economy

Americans don’t expect things to get better any time soon.

By a more than 2-to-1 margin, the Washington Post/Ipsos poll found that Americans expect the economy to get worse (48%) rather than better (20%) over the next year. The Fox poll found 54% of registered voters expecting the economy to get worse in the next year, including larger majorities of Democrats (75%) and independents (64%). Most Republicans (71%) expressed optimism that the economy would improve.

The Quinnipiac poll found 59% of registered voters saying the nation’s economy was getting worse and 49% saying they were worse off financially than they were a year ago.

Pew found Americans even less optimistic about the economy now than they were at the start of the year, with 23% saying economic conditions in the country would be better a year from now, down from 31% in January.

That gloom extends far beyond assessments of the current time period; the Post/Ipsos poll found that 59% of Americans doubt their family's ability to improve their standard of living, outnumbering optimists by nearly 20 points.

And economic unfairness seems baked in to most. Fox News found that about two-thirds, 65%, said they think the country is rigged in favor of the wealthy, up from 56% in 2019.

Trump and the economy

Americans blame the president for the poor economy.

The CNN poll found 7 in 10 Americans disapproving of how Trump is handling the economy, tying a record high set earlier this spring. That rises to about 8 in 10 who disapprove of how he is handling gas prices. The same poll found about 7 in 10 Americans saying that Trump has not gone far enough trying to reduce the price of everyday goods, a record high in their poll.

The Post/Ipsos poll found a record high 43% saying they were not as well off as they were when Trump returned to office, up 10-points since February.

Pew found growing shares of Americans – including Republicans – saying that Trump’s economic policies have made the economy worse. Overall, 60% said that Trump has made the economy worse, up from 52% in January. Among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, 28% say that Trump’s policies have worsened the economy, up from 18% in January.

CNN found slightly more, 65%, saying Trump’s policies have worsened economic conditions in the country, tying record highs set earlier this year.

The Trump administration continues to express positivity about the current economy.

"In my first term," Trump said in a speech at General Motors Proving Grounds in Milford, Michigan, Monday, "... we had the greatest economy in the history of our country. And we're blowing it away this time. You're going to see the results very soon."

The economy and midterms

The economy is a defining issue for the midterms.

The Pew Research poll found the economy is the issue registered voters most want to hear candidates running for Congress discuss during their campaigns. And the Post/Ipsos poll found a majority of registered voters saying that the economy and high prices was one of the three most important issues in their vote for Congress, far more than any other issue.

And while Republicans once had an edge over Democrats on trust to handle the economy, that has eroded.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted at the beginning of Trump’s second term found that by almost 2-to-1, Americans said that the Republican Party had a better plan than the Democratic Party on handling the economy: 40% to 23%. The latest Reuters/Ipsos poll found Republicans’ lead on this has evaporated: 32% said they preferred Republicans while 31% preferred Democrats.

Similarly, in the Pew poll, while a larger share of Americans said Republicans had better policies to deal with the economy in 2023, now it’s almost split: 37% said they agreed with Democrats more on economic policy issues and 36% said they agreed more with Republicans.

And Post/Ipsos found almost exactly the same: a 12-point lead for Republicans on the economy in 2022 and now that’s down to 1 point: 33% trust Democrats more and 34% trust Republicans more.

The CNN poll was conducted July 23-27, 2026, among 1,225 U.S. adults with an error margin of +/- 3.2 percentage points.

The Quinnipiac poll was conducted July 23-27, 2026, among 963 registered voters, with an error margin of +/- 4.1 percentage points.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted July 24-26, 2026, among 1,248 U.S. adults with an error margin of +/- 2.96 percentage points.

The Fox News poll was conducted July 17-20, 2026, among 1,003 registered voters with an error margin of +/- 3 percentage points.

The Washington Post/Ipsos poll was conducted July 8-13, 2026, among 2,648 U.S. adults, including 1,739 registered voters. The overall margin of error is +/- 1.9 percentage points and 2.4 points among registered voters.

The Pew Research Center poll was conducted July 6-12, 2026, among 3,554 U.S. adults, including 2,779 registered voters. The overall error margin is +/- 1.9 percentage points and 2.2 points among registered voters.

Elizabeth Schreier contributed to this report.

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