About two-thirds of Americans who don\u2019t own their own home say they do not think they will be able to afford to buy a home in the foreseeable future,\u00a0and nearly half of Americans say they have “a lot” or “some” debt, an\u00a0ABC News\/Washington Post\/Ipsos poll\u00a0conducted\u00a0using Ipsos\u2019 KnowledgePanel<\/a>\u00a0finds.\u00a0And more than\u00a0half of Americans say health care, taking a weeklong vacation or buying a new car is “unaffordable.”<\/p>\n As previously reported<\/a>, Americans are\u00a0negative on\u00a0the economy, even if feelings have tempered slightly. Nearly half say it has gotten worse since\u00a0President Donald\u00a0Trump\u00a0took office for his second term and\u00a0a third say they are not as well off as they were in January 2025.\u00a0A slim\u00a053%\u00a0majority\u00a0say they have “just enough to maintain” their standard of living. And that uncertainty\u00a0emerges\u00a0in their general feelings about affordability and buying a home in the future.<\/p>\n President Donald Trump delivers the first State of the Union address of his second term to a joint session of Congress in the House Chamber of the US Capitol in Washington, February 24, 2026.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Kenny Holston\/Pool\/EPA\/Shutterstock<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Affordability is a key issue for Trump — and one he is campaigning on heading into the high-stakes midterm elections. This poll was conducted before Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night, where he touted a “roaring economy,” despite\u00a0little evidence suggesting such strength.<\/a><\/p>\n Non-homeowners\u00a0under 50 years old are more optimistic\u00a0about buying a home, with 35% saying they think\u00a0they\u2019ll\u00a0be able to buy a home in the future. Among\u00a0those\u00a050 and older,\u00a026% say that they will be able to buy a home\u00a0someday that\u00a0they like.<\/p>\n Non-homeowners\u00a0with incomes of $100,000 or more are more optimistic about their chances of buying a home \u2013 41% say they think\u00a0they\u2019ll\u00a0be able to\u00a0\u2013 while\u00a0fewer than a third of those with incomes under that are optimistic. Majorities across income levels do not think they will be able to afford a home that they would want to live in.\u00a0<\/p>\n Republicans are more optimistic than Democrats or independents\u00a0on future homeownership; 41% of Republicans who are not homeowners say they will be able to buy a home in the\u00a0foreseeable future, compared to 33% of independents and 27% of Democrats.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n And\u00a0while\u00a074%\u00a0of those who rent\u00a0say they would want to buy a home in the future, that’s\u00a0higher than the\u00a065% of renters\u00a0who say they\u00a0think they will be able to buy a home, meaning there\u2019s a gap between\u00a0renters\u00a0who want to buy a home and those who think they can.<\/p>\n Majorities of Americans say a new car (74%), a weeklong vacation (60%) and health care (56%) are \u201cunaffordable\u201d for their households. About half say that going out to dinner is unaffordable (49%) and\u00a0nearly as\u00a0many say the same about groceries (45%) and home energy and utilities (45%).<\/p>\n On the other hand, majorities\u00a0say that\u00a0gasoline (71%) and\u00a0their rent or mortgage (60%)\u00a0is\u00a0affordable.\u00a0<\/p>\n Larger shares of Americans with lower incomes say every item asked about\u00a0is unaffordable.<\/p>\n Women are more likely than men to say that a new car, a weeklong vacation, going out to dinner, groceries and rent or a mortgage is unaffordable. Americans under 50 are more likely than older Americans to\u00a0say\u00a0every item asked about is unaffordable.\u00a0<\/p>\n Democrats\u00a0and independents\u00a0are more likely\u00a0than Republicans\u00a0to say every item measured is unaffordable. Republicans and Republican-leaning independents who say they are not MAGA supporters are more likely to say each item is unaffordable than Republicans who call themselves MAGA supporters.\u00a0<\/p>\n Parents are more likely\u00a0than those who\u00a0aren\u2019t\u00a0parents\u00a0to say\u00a0groceries, utilities,\u00a0rent\u00a0or mortgage, going out to dinner, taking a weeklong\u00a0vacation\u00a0and buying a new car are unaffordable.\u00a0<\/p>\n Moreover, 46% of Americans\u00a0overall\u00a0say they have at least some\u00a0debt, including credit card balances, auto loans, student\u00a0loans\u00a0or medical debt. That includes 15% who say they have\u00a0\u201ca lot\u201d\u00a0of debt.\u00a0<\/p>\n About half of\u00a0Americans with household incomes under $100,000 say they have at least some\u00a0debt\u00a0(51%), compared\u00a0with\u00a0fewer of those with\u00a0incomes of $100,000 or more\u00a0(41%).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Over half of Black (57%) and Hispanic (53%) Americans say they have at least some\u00a0debt, compared with fewer white (42%) and Asian (36%) Americans.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n A slim majority of Americans,\u00a053%, say they have \u201cjust enough to maintain their standard of living,\u201d\u00a0almost identical to a Washington Post\/Ipsos poll<\/a> conducted last year.\u00a0Another 28% say they are “getting ahead,” up from 25% last year. And 17% say they are “falling behind financially,” down from 20% last year.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Americans with higher household incomes are more likely to say\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0getting ahead:\u00a04 in 10 of those with incomes of $100,000 or more say\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0getting ahead compared with\u00a0about\u00a02 in 10 of those with incomes between $50,000 and $100,000 and 1 in 10 of those with incomes lower than that.\u00a0<\/p>\n Moreover, men are more likely than women to say\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0getting ahead, as are Americans 50 and older versus those under 50.\u00a0<\/p>\n Looking at the midterm elections,\u00a0voters\u00a0who say\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0getting ahead are over twice as likely to say they would vote for the Republican candidate for\u00a0the\u00a0House of Representatives, 67% to 29%.\u00a0Voters who\u00a0have just enough to\u00a0maintain\u00a0their standard of living prefer Democrats by a\u00a054% to 37% margin and\u00a0voters\u00a0falling behind financially support Democrats by an even wider\u00a060% to 25% margin.\u00a0<\/p>\n Methodology\u00a0\u2013 This ABC News\/Washington Post\/Ipsos poll was conducted via the probability-based Ipsos\u00a0KnowledgePanel, Feb. 12-17, 2026, among 2,589 U.S. adults and has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. The error margins are larger among partisan subgroup samples and other subgroups.\u00a0<\/p>\n See PDF for full results and detailed methodology.<\/a><\/p>\n Email<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>ABCNEWS.Polls@abc.com<\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/em>to be added to ABC News\u2019 polling distribution list.<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n More ABC News polls can be found at abcnews.com. Media contacts:<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>Jeannie Kedas<\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/em>and<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>Van Scott<\/em><\/a>.<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Previous<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>releases:<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Americans oppose the tactics ICE is using to enforce immigration laws by 2:1 margin<\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Majority of Americans disapprove of how Trump is handling tariffs<\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Most Americans disapprove of Trump on issues; Americans don\u2019t trust Dems in Congress more to handle problems<\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Immigration is Trump’s best and worst issue<\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n![\"ABCNEWS.Polls@abc.com\"](\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/6b0d1879-5e53-43ff-99fe-519937d5dc1f\/donald-trump-1-epa-gmh-260225_1772048515382_hpMain.jpg?w=375 "\\"ABCNEWS.Polls@abc.com\\"")
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