The headlines change on a daily (if not hourly) basis, but one issue has a consistent concern for voters in the lead-up to the general election: affordability. Voters are feeling squeezed by cost threats from all sides, ranging from high gas prices to rising healthcare, auto, and grocery prices. And they’re looking to the candidates they elect to ease the financial strain they’re feeling.
The affordability issue may seem like a straightforward problem on the surface. After all, voters are worried about how much they’re spending, and they want costs lower, right? But the data reveals that affordability is actually a shifting umbrella issue that touches many areas of American’s lives; the bundle of concerns that matters to one person might not be the same for another.
To identify and reach winnable voters that cluster around complex issues like affordability, campaigns must have a more nuanced, specific understanding than is possible with simple polling. Here, we’ll use continuously updated political intelligence for a deeper dive into exactly what voters are worried about right now and what they’ll be worried about in the coming months when it comes to affordability.
Affordability Dominates US Voter Concerns
A look at Americans’ concerns for the next six months reveals voters are extremely worried about their finances, as well as what leadership in the federal government is doing about high costs:
- 41% worry about corruption in the US government
- 40% are concerned about poor leadership
- 39% worry about healthcare costs or debt
- 37% fear the federal government cutting necessary services or funding
- 37% are concerned about rising fuel/oil/energy prices
- 34% worry about an economic slowdown or recession
- 33% fear their taxes increasing
- 30% are concerned that wage increases aren’t keeping up with the cost of living
The breadth of these concerns matters as much as the individual numbers. This is not a single-issue electorate. Voters are carrying multiple financial anxieties simultaneously, and they are looking for leadership that demonstrates a clear understanding of their unique pain points.
Concerns over corruption and poor leadership rank at the top of this list, even above healthcare and fuel prices, which gives campaigns richer, more actionable context for voter concerns than just a focus on pricing alone. Voters are not just worried about costs; they are worried about whether anyone in power is actually working on their behalf, and efforts that fail to deliver this message will miss winnable voters.
Who or What Do Voters Blame for Inflation?
Resonate’s political intelligence demonstrates that, while there are numerous sources of blame for inflation, most voters believe the government, its policies, and big business are the reasons for high prices:
- 39% blame tariffs and other trade policies
- 38% feel President Trump is at fault
- 35% think corporations are price gouging to boost profits
- 27% blame former president Joe Biden
- 21% feel supply chain shortages are the reason for inflation
Blame is distributed across the political spectrum, which means no party has a clean ownership of this issue, and no party is fully insulated from it. The tariff finding is particularly significant: 39% of voters connect trade policy directly to the prices they are paying, which gives campaigns an opening to connect economic anxiety to specific, nameable policy decisions rather than vague abstractions.
What Do Voters Think About Housing Affordability?
- 38% call nationwide housing affordability an extremely serious problem
- 32% believe it’s a very serious problem
- 25% believe it’s somewhat of a problem
- 2% believe it isn’t that much of a problem
- 4% think it’s not a problem at all
Seventy percent of registered voters consider housing affordability a serious or extremely serious problem. That is not a niche concern. It cuts across age groups, geographies, and party affiliations. For campaigns targeting younger voters, first-time homebuyers, or renters in competitive districts, housing is deeply connected to the challenges of affordability—not a secondary issue.
How Do Americans Feel About Medication Affordability?
Prescription drug prices are one aspect of healthcare costs or debt, and voters have strong feelings about their ability to afford medications they take. Resonate’s political intelligence shows:
- 20% say medication affordability is an extremely serious problem
- 25% believe it’s a very serious problem
- 34% think it’s somewhat of a problem
- 14% don’t think it’s that much of a problem
- 7% say it’s not a problem at all
Forty-five percent of voters consider medication affordability a serious or extremely serious problem. When combined with the 39% who are already worried about healthcare costs or debt, it becomes clear that healthcare affordability, across premiums, prescriptions, and access, is a sustained, high-priority concern that campaigns cannot treat as resolved or peripheral.
How Can Political Campaigns Respond Effectively to Affordability Concerns?
Two voters may check a survey box that says, “I’m concerned about affordability,” but campaigns relying solely on that data point can’t understand the role of related concerns and unique context. A 58-year-old without employer-provided insurance has different motivations, values, and media habits than a 34-year-old carrying student debt and renting in a high-cost city. Predictive intelligence surfaces the individual-level signals behind shared anxieties, making it possible for campaigns to connect with voters on a personal level about all the specific factors that go into broad issues. With the two voters in the previous example, it recognizes that while both care about affordability, they do so in different ways, and campaigns that have predictive data will be able to craft the messages each individual needs to hear to take action at the polls.
Want to learn more about the issues, sentiments, and behaviors driving voter actions at the polls? Download Resonate’s April 2026 Voter Trends Report today. Ready to start incorporating political intelligence into your own campaign? Schedule a consultation to speak with a data expert.
