Personal finance negativity has declined – Americans are still over twice as likely to say their personal finances have worsened rather than improved over the past year

The USNCI is a diffusion index and the USNCI Pocketbook and Expectations Sub-Indices are comprised of the views of 1,000 Americans.

A score of 50 on the diffusion index indicates that positive and negative views are a wash while scores above or below 50 suggest net positive or net negative views in terms of the economic mood of Americans.

The data for the USNCI is based on perceptions related to personal finances, job security, economic strength, and real estate value.

The data for the Pocketbook Index is based on perceptions related to personal finances and job security, and the data for the Expectations Index is based on perceptions related to economic strength and real estate value.

Nanos conducted a representative non-probability online survey of 1,003 Americans, 18 years of age or older, between July 27th and 30th, 2025. The sample is geographically stratified to be representative of the United States.

A margin of error cannot be calculated on a non-probability sample.  For comparison purposes, a probability sample of 1,003 respondents would have a margin of error of ±3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

The research was commissioned and conducted by Nanos Research.

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