Over 70% of Americans say they are now worse off financially

This claim is misleading because the provided polling generally finds about 48% to 55% of Americans saying their personal finances are worse, while figures near 70% refer to perceptions that the overall economy is worsening.

Nearly half of Americans say they're worse off financially than a year ago, NY Fed finds - CBS News
Source: cbsnews.com

Nearly half of Americans say they're worse off financially than a year ago, NY Fed finds - CBS News
Source: cbsnews.com

At a glance

Key Evidence

Verified August 16, 2026

Gallup polling reported in April 2026 found 55% saying their personal financial situation was worsening.
The New York Fed survey and a later Gallup measure placed the share saying they were worse off than a year earlier at approximately 48% to 50%.
By contrast, the 70% to 73% figures in the provided sources describe people who thought the overall economy was getting worse.

The reporting

What the Evidence Shows

The evidence does not support the specific statement that over 70% of Americans say they are personally worse off financially.

Gallup-related reporting from April 2026 found that 55% of Americans said their financial situation was getting worse. Axios and CBS News reported the same central figure, describing it as a record or near-record result.
A separate Gallup measure, reported in May 2026, found that approximately half of Americans said they were financially worse off than a year earlier. The New York Federal Reserve survey, reported by CBS News in June 2026, found roughly 48% giving that response.
The figures around 70% concern a different question. ABC News reported that 73% said the economy was getting worse, while a Fox News poll found 70% of registered voters saying the economy was worsening. Those results measure views about the national economy, not whether respondents personally were financially worse off.

The claim therefore appears to combine two related but distinct measures: personal financial circumstances and perceptions of the broader economy. Personal financial pessimism was substantial in the cited polls, but the available evidence does not show that it exceeded 70%.

Primary trail