Most Americans say they are better off now than three years ago

Well over half of Americans say they are better off now than before President Trump took office three years ago, an unusually high statistic compared to similar election year polls.

Gallup conducted phone interviews with 1,033 adults living in the United States from Jan. 16-29 and published the findings on Wednesday. Of those surveyed, 61% said they are better off overall now than they were three years ago. That number did surpass 50% during the four previous presidential elections in which an incumbent president was competing.

Just 36% of respondents said that they were worse off overall, and 3% reported no change.



When then-President Barack Obama was running for reelection in 2012, 45% said they were better off than they were three years prior, while 52% reported that they were worse off. During the 1992, 1996, and 2004 election cycles, when an incumbent president was running for a second term, half of respondents reported being better off.

Republicans were much more likely to report improvements than Democrats, with a 60-point difference separating respondents from the two parties. Eighty-nine percent of Republicans said they were better off versus just 29% of Democrats. Among independents, 60% said they were doing better.

Financially, 53% of respondents to the 2020 poll said they are better off now than three years ago, 36% said they were worse off, and 11% reported no change.

Trump has made the economy a central message in his reelection campaign and often cites strong job numbers, wage growth, and other economic statistics at rallies and in campaign commercials. Democrats have attempted to undercut his message claiming that the data does not reflect the actual situations of many Americans.