Personal Finances Showing Signs of Pessimism

• Thirty-one percent (31%) say their finances are getting better, while 34% say they are getting worse.
  • Two weeks ago, 31% also said better, but 36% said worse.
  • For the fourth straight survey, the pessimists outnumbered the optimists. A month ago, 30% said better and 31% said worse.
  • While less pessimistic than in recent years, the past couple of months are showing a slightly negative trend.
• As is always the case, the voters whose party controls the White House are more optimistic about their personal finances.
  • Forty-eight percent (48%) of Republicans say their finances are getting better while 47% of Democrats say their finances are getting worse.
• From July 2021 until just before the 2024 election, more people were pessimistic than optimistic about their finances in every single survey.
  • In May, 2025, for the first time in four years, more voters said their finances were getting better than worse. That followed an announcement from President Trump about a tariff deal with China.
  • Voters have remained evenly divided about their personal financial trends in recent months.
• Forty-two percent (42%) of voters rate their personal finances as Good or Excellent.
  • Twenty percent (20%) rate their finances as Poor.

The most recent data cited is from a Napolitan News Service survey of 1,000 Registered Voters conducted online by Scott Rasmussen September 8-9, 2025. Field work for the survey was conducted by RMG Research, Inc. and has a margin of error of +/- 3.1.