AP-NORC poll: How Americans rate Trump on the economy and rising prices

Americans give President Donald Trump low marks on the economy and even lower marks on the cost of living, according to an AP-NORC poll released October 1, 2026. Just 26% of U.S. adults approve of his handling of the economy, while 17% approve of his handling of the cost of living. Asked what is more responsible for higher-than-usual prices, 65% chose Trump’s policies over factors outside his control. Those are respondents’ assessments, not a measure of how much any particular policy has changed prices.

What the poll found

Trump’s economic approval is down from 32% in the poll’s July survey and 38% in March. In the latest survey, 73% disapprove of his handling of the economy. On the cost of living, 82% disapprove, compared with 76% in April. The September result leaves him with his lowest economic approval in AP-NORC polling during his second term.

The findings go beyond an approval rating. Sixty-nine percent of adults say Trump’s handling of the cost of living has been worse than they expected; only 7% say it has been better. Nearly half, 48%, say they are extremely or very concerned about affording groceries in the next few months, and 49% say the same about gas. In July, those figures were 41% for groceries and 39% for gas.

Respondents also describe a broader sense of economic strain. According to the poll, 46% say they and their families are worse off than when Trump began his second term. Fifty-five percent say their local economy is worse off, while 73% say the country is heading in the wrong direction. These answers capture how people view their circumstances; they should not be read as independent measurements of economic conditions.

Where Republicans differ

Republican respondents express frustration with prices, but many draw a different conclusion about responsibility. The poll finds that 52% of Republicans say Trump’s handling of the cost of living has been worse than expected. At the same time, 67% of Republicans attribute higher-than-usual prices more to factors outside his control than to his policies.

That distinction matters politically. Dissatisfaction among people who generally support Trump does not necessarily mean they will vote against Republican candidates. It does suggest that arguments about affordability may reach voters who otherwise remain sympathetic to the president, even when those voters disagree with the wider public about what caused higher prices.

The poll offers a historical comparison, though the circumstances are not identical. In October 2022, ahead of that year’s midterms, 44% of adults attributed higher prices more to then-President Joe Biden’s policies, according to AP-NORC polling. The 65% now assigning more responsibility to Trump’s policies is substantially higher. Neither response establishes the economic cause of price increases; both show whom the public holds accountable.

What it could mean for the midterms

The results point to a possible vulnerability for Republicans as voters prepare to choose the next Congress in November. Trump is not on the ballot, but candidates from his party may have to answer questions about prices and whether the administration has delivered the relief voters expected. The sharp gap between his overall job approval, 31%, and his cost-of-living approval, 17%, indicates that affordability is a particular weakness in this survey.

There are limits to that signal. The poll asked U.S. adults, not a screened group of likely voters, and it does not predict which party will win individual races. Local candidates, turnout and other issues could shape the results. For now, its clearest finding is narrower: most adults surveyed are unhappy with Trump’s performance on prices, and most assign his policies more responsibility for higher-than-usual costs.

The nationwide poll interviewed 2,140 adults from September 24 to 28 through NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak panel. Its overall margin of sampling error is plus or minus 2.9 percentage points; estimates for smaller groups of respondents have wider margins.