A Tale of Two Economies: How Lived Experience is Splitting American Voters

The latest Geostrategy polling paints a bleak picture of how American voters view the economy at the end of 2025, and—crucially—how sharply those views diverge along partisan and demographic lines. While macroeconomic indicators may suggest stabilisation, public sentiment remains dominated by cost-of-living pressures, inflation anxiety, and a persistent sense that everyday finances are not keeping pace with prices.

Overall, just 4% of Americans now describe the national economy as “very good,” while 26% say it is “fairly good.” By contrast, a combined 62% rate the economy as either “fairly bad” (35%) or “very bad” (26%). This negative assessment is not evenly distributed. Among Democrats, the sense of economic distress is overwhelming: 40% say the economy is “very bad” and a further 44% say it is “fairly bad,” leaving fewer than one in ten Democrats offering a positive assessment. Republicans, by contrast, are far more relaxed with the state of the economy, with 10% saying the economy is “very good” and 47% “fairly good,” and just 7% rating it “very bad.”

This partisan split becomes even starker when voters are asked about the direction of travel. Overall, 55% of Americans believe the economy is getting worse, compared with just 23% who think it is getting better. Among Democrats, pessimism is near universal: 85% say the economy is deteriorating, with only 3% believing it is improving. Republicans see an entirely different reality. Just 22% think the economy is getting worse, while a majority of 52% say it is getting better. Independents sit closer to the national average, but still lean negative, with 59% saying conditions are worsening.

These contrasting perceptions reflect different lived experiences of the economy over the past year. When asked to look back on 2025, 40% of Americans say their personal financial situation has worsened, compared with 21% who say it has improved. Democrats again stand out: 53% report being worse off than a year ago, and only 13% say they are better off. Republicans, meanwhile, are far more likely to feel progress, with 33% saying their finances improved and just 29% saying they worsened. This gap suggests that partisan identity is closely intertwined with how people interpret their own economic circumstances, not just national trends.

Income and age deepen this story. Among those earning under $50,000, nearly half (47%) say their personal finances deteriorated over the year, compared with 29% of those earning over $100,000. Younger voters are also more pessimistic than older Americans. Those under 30 are more likely to report worsening finances and to say prices are rising sharply, reflecting their greater exposure to rent inflation, student debt, and less secure employment.

Inflation remains the dominant lens through which Americans experience the economy. Across the electorate, 58% say prices for goods and services have been going up in recent weeks, while just 8% say they have been going down. Among Democrats, that figure rises to 81%, compared with 35% among Republicans. This divergence is striking, because inflation is a shared macroeconomic reality—but it is not felt, or perceived, equally. For Democrats and lower-income voters, rising prices are an everyday stressor; for Republicans, particularly higher-income ones, inflation appears more abstract and less personally disruptive.

The same pattern appears in attitudes toward income. Fully 75% of Americans say their income is not keeping up with inflation. Among Democrats, this rises to 82%, compared with 69% of Republicans. Even among higher earners, a majority still feel left behind by rising costs, but the intensity of that pressure is far greater for those on lower and middle incomes, reinforcing the sense of economic fragility despite headline growth.

Despite deep pessimism about the economy overall, views of personal finances are marginally less bleak. A slim majority of Americans (51%) rate their own financial situation as either “very” or “fairly” good, even as they express despair about the national picture. This disconnect suggests that economic anxiety is driven as much by fear of future instability as by present hardship. People may be coping now, but they do not feel secure.

Download the data tables for this poll.