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OVER THE PAST YEAR the nation’s economy has ... ?
Asked of: All respondents (years in which the item was asked)
National economy better or worse over the past year · Asked in 20 waves, 2006–2025 · 717,727 responses · weighted estimates computed from individual responses
Harmonized across years by the Cumulative CES Common Content (Kuriwaki); response options are collapsed where years differ. See docs/sources/ces.md. A five-point scale in every year. The middle options read "Gotten better" and "Gotten worse" in some years (2018, for example) and "Gotten somewhat better" and "Gotten somewhat worse" in others (2020-2024); the cumulative file merges each pair. The large shifts in 2008 and 2020 coincide with the financial crisis and the pandemic recession, not with format changes.
Shares of people who gave an answer. Each column is one wave, evenly spaced rather than to scale in time; hover for exact shares.
| Group | Gotten much better | Gotten better / somewhat better | Stayed about the same |
|---|
| Poll | Field dates | Mode | Respondents | Responses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cooperative Election Study 2025 | 2025-11-05 to 2025-12-12 | web | 17,000 | 16,976 |
| Cooperative Election Study 2024 | 2024-10-01 to 2024-12-09 | web | 60,000 | 59,952 |
| Cooperative Election Study 2023 | 2023-11-08 to 2023-12-11 | web | 24,500 | 24,459 |
| Cooperative Election Study 2022 | 2022-09-29 to 2022-12-15 | web | 60,000 | 59,928 |
| Cooperative Election Study 2021 | 2021-11-03 to 2021-12-07 | web | 25,700 | 25,655 |
| Cooperative Election Study 2020 | 2020-09-29 to 2020-12-14 | web | 61,000 | 60,890 |
| Cooperative Congressional Election Study 2019 | 2019-11-06 to 2019-12-05 | web | 18,000 | 17,962 |
| Cooperative Congressional Election Study 2018 | 2018-09-27 to 2018-11-05 | web | 60,000 | 59,918 |
| Cooperative Congressional Election Study 2017 | 2017-11-08 to 2017-12-12 | web | 18,200 | 18,164 |
| Cooperative Congressional Election Study 2016 |
Shares of people who gave an answer. A group’s column is left blank in waves where its effective sample is under 50; hover for exact shares.
| Gotten worse / somewhat worse |
|---|
| Gotten much worse |
|---|
| n |
|---|
| MoE |
|---|
| All respondents | 8% | 18% | 16% | 24% | 35% | 59952 | ±0.7 | |
| Democrats | 17% | 36% | 20% | 18% | 9% | 22964 | ±1 | |
| Independents (incl. leaners) | 5% | 15% | 17% | 26% | 38% | 20113 | ±1 | |
| Republicans | 1% | 4% | 9% | 27% | 59% | 15898 | ±1 |
Cooperative Election Study 2024 · US adults 18+ (YouGov opt-in panels, sample-matched to an ACS frame and weighted). Shares of people who gave an answer. n is unweighted; ± is the 95% margin of error at 50% from the weighted effective sample. Groups with an effective sample under 50 are grayed; under 20, hidden.
| 2016-09-28 to 2016-11-07 |
| web |
| 64,600 |
| 64,483 |
| Cooperative Congressional Election Study 2015 | 2015-11-06 to 2015-12-03 | web | 14,250 | 14,234 |
| Cooperative Congressional Election Study 2014 | 2014-10-01 to 2014-11-03 | web | 56,200 | 56,025 |
| Cooperative Congressional Election Study 2013 | 2013-11-06 to 2013-12-03 | web | 16,400 | 16,396 |
| Cooperative Congressional Election Study 2012 | 2012-10-01 to 2012-11-05 | web | 54,535 | 54,503 |
| Cooperative Congressional Election Study 2011 | 2011-11-09 to 2012-01-07 | web | 20,150 | 20,133 |
| Cooperative Congressional Election Study 2010 | 2010-10-01 to 2010-11-01 | web | 55,400 | 55,358 |
| Cooperative Congressional Election Study 2009 | 2009-11-05 to 2009-12-14 | web | 13,800 | 13,787 |
| Cooperative Congressional Election Study 2008 | 2008-10-08 to 2008-11-03 | web | 32,800 | 32,776 |
| Cooperative Congressional Election Study 2007 | 2007-11-09 to 2007-12-10 | web | 9,999 | 9,771 |
| Cooperative Congressional Election Study 2006 | 2006-10-07 to 2006-11-08 | web | 36,421 | 36,357 |