Americans are still feeling squeezed, and it’s showing up most clearly in one word: affordability. A new Gallup survey finds 31% of adults name the overall cost of living as their top financial problem, down from 41% in 2024 but still near the top of a two-decade trend. Energy prices have jumped on the worry list, with 13% citing them—roughly triple last year’s share and the highest level since 2008—putting them in a tie with housing costs as the second-biggest concern. Health care comes next at 8%. When you bundle inflation, energy, housing, healthcare, college, transportation, and child care, cost-related worries dwarf all other financial concerns.
Those pressures are coloring how people see both their current and future finances. Fewer than half (46%) describe their situation as excellent or good, levels more reminiscent of the post–Great Recession years than the more upbeat period from 2016 to 2021. The more telling stat on that front: A record 55% now say their finances are getting worse—up modestly from last year’s 53%, but the fifth straight year the figure has increased. That kind of steady uptick in unease hasn’t happened since the 2008 financial crisis. Most also express concern about retirement savings (62%), a major medical event (60%), investment performance, and maintaining their standard of living (both 54%).
