Gowin share of U.S. adults say their personal finances will be worse a year from now
Amid a downbeat economic outlook and sagging consumer confidence, Americans’ views about their personal financial situation have remained relatively stable over the past year.
A majority say they’re in only fair (40%) or poor (17%) shape, according to an April 2025 Pew Research Center survey. Fewer say they’re in excellent (7%) or good shape (36%). This is very similar to how the public felt a year ago.
What has changed is the public’s outlook on the future. Roughly three-in-ten adults (28%) say they expect the financial situation for them and their family to be worse a year from now. This is up significantly from 16% who said this in May 2024.
The share of adults who say their situation will be better a year from now has increased only marginally, from 34% in 2024 to 37% today. And the share saying things will be about the same has fallen from 49% to 35%.
Meanwhile, 48% of Americans say they have emergency or rainy day funds that would cover their expenses for three months in case of sickness, job loss, economic downturn or other emergencies.
Views on present circumstances and what might happen in the future differ substantially by income.
Current situation: Only 20% of lower-income adults say they’re currently in excellent or good shape when it comes to their personal financial situation.
This compares with 47% of middle-income adults and 74% of those with upper incomes.
Future outlook: Looking ahead, 34% of upper-income adults say they expect their financial situation to be worse a year from now. Smaller shares of middle- and lower-income adults say the same (27% and 28%). The share of upper-income adults expressing this level of pessimism has roughly tripled since last year (up from 11%). The increase has been more modest among lower- and middle-income adults.
are partisan differences as well. Republicans and Republican-leaning independents are more likely than Democrats and Democratic leaners to say their personal finances are in excellent or good shape (49% vs. 38%). But a year ago, Republicans were less likely than Democrats to say this (40% vs. 44%).
*Roughly one-in-five Americans have experienced these things in the past year:
*Had problems paying their rent or mortgage (21%)
*Had problems paying their daily transportation costs (20%)
*Had trouble paying for child care (20% among adults with a child younger than 18)
*Had to get food from a food bank or food pantry (19%)
Smaller shares say they’ve experienced these things:
*Taken out a payday or short-term loan (14%)
*Been laid off or lost their job (10%)
We asked about some of these issues last year, and the findings were similar.
However, the share who say they’ve had trouble paying their rent or mortgage has decreased somewhat, from 24% in 2024.
Lower-income adults are much more likely than middle- and upper-income adults to have faced each of these challenges in the past year. For six of the eight challenges we asked about, lower-income adults are about twice as likely as those in the other two income groups to have had these experiences.
For example, 44% of adults with lower incomes say they’ve borrowed money from friends or family in the past year. This compares with 21% of middle-income and 11% of upper-income adults. Similarly, 36% of lower-income adults say they’ve had trouble paying their rent or mortgage, compared with 17% of middle-income and 5% of upper-income adults.
Some groups are more likely than others to say they can’t pay some of their monthly bills. These include:
Women: 30% of women say they cannot pay some of their monthly bills. This compares with 21% of men.
Black and Hispanic adults: 43% of Black adults and 37% of Hispanic adults say they can’t pay some bills, while 23% of Asian adults and 19% of White adults say this.
Lower-income adults: 45% of lower-income Americans say they can’t pay some bills in a typical month. This compares with 19% of middle-income Americans and 7% of upper-income Americans.
