America’s frustration with the cost of living continues to rise
Washington, D.C., May 19, 2026 – A new Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted May 15-17 finds that a rising majority of Americans feel that their cost of living is off on the wrong track and disapprove of President Donald Trump’s handling of the issue.
Overall, 74% say they think their cost of living is on the wrong track, while 73% disapprove of Trump’s handling of the cost of living. Both these figures represent high points in Reuters/Ipsos polling conducted during Trump’s second term.
Americans’ rising frustration with the cost of living comes as the economy, unemployment, and jobs continues to rank as the issue Americans feel is the most important problem facing the nation (21%), followed by threats to democratic values and norms (12%) and corruption (10%).
More broadly, the poll finds that Trump’s overall job approval rating stands at 35%, stable compared to April (34%) but below levels from March 2025 (42%).
When it comes to the war in Iran, views continue to tilt negative: 52% say that it has not been worth the U.S. taking military action in Iran, compared to 23% who say it has been worth it. These views are similar to those measured in previous Reuters/Ipsos polling in April.
The survey also explored views of data centers that support artificial intelligence and computing services being constructed in the U.S. Far more Americans say they oppose than support data centers being built within 10 miles of their home (55% oppose vs. 10% support); 32% say they neither support nor oppose. Opposition also outweighs support for construction of new data centers in the U.S. generally, though many say they neither support or oppose this (41% oppose, 17% support, 39% neither).
Despite low public support for the construction of new data centers in the U.S., 62% feel the statement “building data centers in the U.S. is necessary to remain competitive with other countries in AI technology” describes their views at least somewhat well. Additionally, 53% align with the view that “the construction of data centers creates jobs and is good for the economy.”
About the Study
This Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted May 15-17, 2026, by Ipsos using the probability-based KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,271 general population adults aged 18 or older.
The study was conducted in English. The data were weighted to adjust for gender by age, race and ethnicity, census region, metropolitan status, education, household income, 2024 vote choice and political party identification. Political party identification benchmarks are from the 2025 NPORS annual survey, with a midyear adjustment estimated across aggregated KnowledgePanel surveys accounting for changes in panelists’ party identification over time. The demographic benchmarks came from the 2025 March supplement of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS).
- Gender (Male, Female) by Age (18–29, 30–44, 45-59 and 60+)
- Race/Hispanic Ethnicity (White Non-Hispanic, Black Non-Hispanic, Other, Non-Hispanic, Hispanic, 2+ Races, Non-Hispanic)
- Education (Less than High School, High School, Some College, Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree or higher)
- Census Region (Northeast, Midwest, South, West)
- Metropolitan status (Metro, non-Metro)
- Household Income (Under $25,000, $25,000-$49,999, $50,000-$74,999, $75,000-$99,999, $100,000-$149,999, $150,000+)
- 2024 Vote Choice (Trump, Harris, Another candidate, Did not vote)
- Political Party ID (Democrat, Lean Democrat, Republican, Lean Republican, Independent/Something else)
The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 2.8 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults. The margin of sampling error takes into account the design effect, which was 1.07. The margin of sampling error is higher and varies for results based on sub-samples. In our reporting of the findings, percentage points are rounded off to the nearest whole number. As a result, percentages in a given table column may total slightly higher or lower than 100%. In questions that permit multiple responses, columns may total substantially more than 100%, depending on the number of different responses offered by each respondent.
For more information on this news release, please contact:
Alec Tyson
Senior Vice President, US
Public Affairs
[email protected]
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