In the Last Three Years, Americans Feel Worse Off

Keep in mind much of the issue during the last four years pre-Tru_p was the result of Covid and the stimulus packages put in place to help Americans. Many companies took advantage of government loans which were later forgiven. Others took advantage of a Covid economy by increasing prices in various manner such as packaging.

Coming up? Pretty simple rundown on what is happening in the United States as Tru_p plays the game of How Do Tariffs Impact the Economy. The United States makes for a great laboratory to practice what will and will not impact a favorable economy.

Are Americans making ends meet? In 2024, nearly a third of adults felt worse off than they had in 2023. The Federal Reserve tracks how Americans feel about their financial situations. We dug through the latest drop to bring you these insights. 

More than a quarter of US adults say they’re struggling financially: 73% of Americans were reporting they were “living comfortably” or “doing okay.” 19% said they were “just getting by.” And 8% said they were “finding it difficult to get by.”  

Inflation topped the list of financial challenges, followed by the costs of basic living expenses and housing.

Financial confidence tracks with education: 87% of people with at least a bachelor’s degree said they were doing at least okay. This as compared to 68% of people with some college or a technical or associate’s degree claiming similar. And 47% of people without a high school diploma.

The Federal Reserve also tracks whether Americans feel like their financial situations have improved or worsened from the year before. In 2024, 29% of the people surveyed felt they were worse off than the previous year. This is down from 35% in 2022, but still six points higher than the 23% of people who reported feeling better off than a year ago.

From 2014 to 2021, more Americans felt their financial situations were improving than worsening. Since 2022, the opposite has been true.

Over the past three years, more respondents cited inflation as the number one reason for their financial difficulties. Inflation hit a 40-year high of 9.1% in June 2022 and has yet to return to the Fed’s target of 2%.

After inflation, Americans pointed to the costs of basic living expenses and housing as their top financial challenges.

September 2025, Inflation was reported at 3%.

“How are Americans doing financially?” USAFacts