Personal Finances Showing Signs of Pessimism

Publication Date: 09/11/2025 4:16 PM CST

Personal Finances Showing Signs of Pessimism

Publication: 09/11/2025 4:16 PM 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

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.