Upshot: Times/Siena polling on affordability

January 26, 2026

A bar chart showing poll respondents’ feelings about the affordability of a few items: housing, having a family and groceries. Most voters, 54 percent, think housing has become unaffordable. Nearly a third think the cost is high but still somewhat affordable. Only 13 percent think it is mostly affordable. On having a family, the numbers are similar, with 44 per cent saying it is unaffordable, 38 per cent saying it is somewhat affordable and 13 percent saying it is mostly affordable. For groceries, the numbers change more, with 28 percent saying it is unaffordable, 54 per cent saying it is somewhat affordable and 17 percent saying it is affordable.

The New York Times

Voters See a Middle-Class Lifestyle as Drifting Out of Reach, Poll Finds

Concerns about the affordability of education, housing, health care, having a family and retirement are driving economic anxieties, a New York Times/Siena poll found.

By Lisa Lerer, Ruth Igielnik and Camille Baker

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