Almost Half of Voters Must Spend All on Living Expenses

Publication Date: 02/21/2026 5:00 AM CST

Almost Half of Voters Must Spend All on Living Expenses

Publication: 02/21/2026 5:00 AM CST

Member Content

The content you are trying to access is currently only available to Gold Circle Members. If you are a member, please log in to view.

To learn more about becoming a Gold Circle Member, please refer to our membership page.

Full Toplines: RESTRICTED

Full Crosstabs URL: RESTRICTED

Toplines are free for use after embargo, if any. Crosstabs are confidential and not for public release. However, you may cite specific demographic data from these reports.
For any data released, please cite Napolitan News Service.

Public Content

Almost half (48%) of voters say all their money goes to living expenses.
- This is up 5 points from 2 weeks ago and up 3 points from a month ago.
- Forty-six percent (46%) of registered voters say they can set aside money for savings, down 7 points from 2 weeks ago and down 3 points from a month ago.
- This is near last April's low of 43% who said they could set aside money.
If a surprise expense of $1,000 came up, 49% of voters say they would need to cut back on their lifestyle.
- This is up 6 points from 2 weeks ago and up 3 points from a month ago.
- In late July, a high of 51% said they would have to cut back.
- Meanwhile, 45% said they could make the surprise payment without cutting back, down 6 points from 2 weeks ago and down 4 points from a month ago.
Less than half (45%) of voters say they paid off their credit cards in full over the past month, down 6 points from 2 weeks ago and a month ago.
- Forty-three percent (43%) say they had to make partial payments, up 2 points from 2 weeks ago.
- A large majority (72%) of postgraduates paid off their credit cards.

This data is from a Napolitan News Service survey of 1,000 Registered Voters conducted online by Scott Rasmussen, February 17, 2026. RMG Research, Inc., conducted the field work for the survey. It has a margin of error of +/- 3.1.