In the October 10–12 Economist / YouGov voter tables, 46% rated the economy poor, 30% fair, 18% good and 4% excellent. The sample included 1,403 people registered or planning to register to vote.
YouGov conducted a survey of U.S. adults registered or planning to register to vote from 2026-10-10 to 2026-10-12. The reported sample size was 1403, using Online.
Reported findings
How would you describe the current state of the American economy?
Base: Respondents registered or planning to register to vote · n = 1403
These are the voter-table results: respondents registered or planning to register. They differ from the all-adult findings in the linked article. Do not pool with later current-registered-voter-only samples or Pew questions. Release date refers to the linked article.
Caldwell analysis
This report uses the voter tables linked from YouGov’s release. The release’s all-adult headline reports a different population and different percentages. Keeping those populations distinct is necessary for an accurate comparison.
These ratings describe perceptions of economic conditions; they are not measurements of inflation, employment or output. The registered-or-planning-to-register population also differs from later YouGov tables limited to current registered voters, so Caldwell does not combine them into the same tracker.
Reading the results
These figures describe the stated survey population during the fieldwork period. A single survey does not establish a trend. Comparisons require compatible questions, populations and methods.
Sources
Nearly half of Americans describe the economy as poor, the highest share since 2022. YouGov. Source released 2026-10-14.
Original questionnaire, tables and methodology
Source: YouGov plc, 2026, © All rights reserved. Public data license.