The high cost of living continues to rank as the most pressing financial problem facing American households, according to a new survey from Gallup published on Tuesday.
About 31% of Americans cited cost-of-living pressures as their top financial concern in an open-ended question, down from a peak of 41% in 2024 but still among the highest levels recorded in Gallup's more than two-decade trend. The figure is roughly in line with last year's readings.
Other results from the survey include:
* Rising energy costs emerged as a growing concern, mentioned by 13% of respondents — up 10 percentage points from a year ago and the highest level since 2008.
* That ties energy with housing costs as the second-most cited financial issue. Healthcare costs ranked fourth at 8%, consistent with recent years.
* Overall, affordability-related concerns dominated the list of financial challenges. Combined mentions of inflation, energy, housing and healthcare costs — as well as expenses connected to college, transportation and childcare — far outpaced all other categories.
* Affordability has now been the leading financial concern for five consecutive years, reflecting persistent pressure on household budgets.
* Supporting that trend, a separate Gallup Panel survey found that 55% of Americans say recent price increases have caused hardship in maintaining their standard of living, a figure that is largely unchanged since 2023.
* Americans' overall assessment of their personal finances has remained relatively stable but subdued. Currently, 46% describe their financial situation as "excellent" or "good," while 35% say it is "only fair" and 19% rate it as "poor."
* Those figures remain below levels seen between 2016 and 2021, when at least half of Americans rated their finances positively. Current sentiment more closely resembles the period from 2008 to 2015, though it is not as negative as during the depths of the Great Recession.
Looking ahead, financial pessimism remains elevated. A record 55% of Americans now say their financial situation is getting worse, up from 47% in 2024 and marking the fifth consecutive year that more Americans report worsening finances rather than improvement. The only comparable period was during the Great Recession.
Concerns about specific financial risks remain widespread. Majorities of Americans worry about having enough money for retirement (62%) and being able to cover medical costs in the event of a serious illness or accident (60%). About 54% express concern about both investment returns and maintaining their standard of living.
Nearly half of respondents are worried about routine healthcare costs (48%), while 41% are concerned about paying monthly bills and 40% about affording college. Fewer cited housing costs (35%) or minimum credit card payments (28%) as top concerns.
While many of these concerns have remained steady over the past year, they have increased since 2021, when inflation began accelerating. Among the largest increases are an 11-point rise in concern about making minimum credit card payments and nine-point increases in worries about maintaining living standards and paying monthly bills.
Although inflation has cooled from a peak of 9.1% in mid-2022 to below 3% for much of 2025, it has not consistently returned to pre-2021 levels. Economists say the lingering effects of elevated prices continue to shape consumer sentiment, leaving many Americans cautious about their financial outlook.
The findings are based on Gallup's annual Economy and Personal Finance survey, conducted between April 1–15, with a random sample of 1,001 adults. For results based on the total sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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