Americans are far more anxious about the everyday costs of food, healthcare and housing than they are about Wall Street’s ups and downs, a new survey shows.
In a Pew Research Center study published in July, 69% of respondents said they were “very concerned” about healthcare costs, while 66% said the same about the price of food and consumer goods. Housing affordability followed close behind, with 64% calling it a major worry.
By comparison, only 18% of Americans said they were very concerned about the performance of the stock market.
That finding comes even as a majority of Americans have money tied to stocks. In 2025, 62% reported owning stock, a figure that has remained broadly steady since the late 1990s, according to a Gallup poll.
The Pew survey found that Democrats were generally more likely than Republicans to voice concern about economic issues, though limited concern about the stock market was shared across party lines.
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The sharpest partisan divide appeared on unemployment: 57% of Democrats said they were very concerned, compared with 29% of Republicans.
On several other pocketbook and economic issues — including gas prices, electricity costs and the role of artificial intelligence in the economy — Democrats were only modestly more likely than Republicans to express concern.
The poll also points to a broader souring in public sentiment. Americans, who have held a pessimistic view of the economy since the start of 2020, now appear to see conditions somewhat more negatively than they did before President Trump took office.
Some 60% of respondents said that Trump’s policies were making the economy worse, although the partisan divide was stark on the issue, with 89% of Dems holding that negative view, compared to just 28% of Republicans.
However, the poll does show increasing dissatisfaction among Republicans, with only 42% saying the President was improving the economy, down from 57% in Jan. 26, before the war in Iran triggered a rise in gas prices.
The Pew poll was conducted July 6 to 12, and included 3,554 American adults.
