While the war rages on between the U.S. and Iran, most Americans are more concerned about what is happening at home. During President Donald Trump's last State of the Union address in February, he praised the work of his administration for bringing down inflation and sending incomes higher.

But how do Americans truly feel about the state of the economy? According to a Pew Research Center poll from earlier in the year, Americans cited the cost of food, housing, and health care as their leading economic concerns. Read on for more information about what Americans are saying about the three biggest worries facing them today, as well as what the Trump administration is doing to address the concerns.

Americans Cite Rising Food Prices as Primary Concern

The domestic economy appears to be in decent shape across many metrics. Despite increasingly high numbers of layoffs across several industries, unemployment figures remain relatively low. However, many households are still dealing with prohibitive prices at the grocery store.

The cost of food was also a big problem under former President Joe Biden. Inflation levels that reached a 40-year high in 2022 sent food prices soaring, exacerbating the supply disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Trump used the uptick in food prices and resulting discontent among Americans as one of the cornerstones of his 2024 presidential campaign.

However, food prices have continued to inch up since Trump took back the Oval Office. While food costs are rising more slowly than they were a few years ago, some of the key staples have seen a significant surge in prices. For example, the price of ground beef is up 17.2% from what it was a year ago. Likewise, coffee prices have jumped 18.3%.

The White House has tried to rein in the price of beef, coffee, and bananas by exempting these products from tariffs. In addition, Trump announced earlier in the year that he was going to increase U.S. imports of beef from Argentina in an effort to provide relief to American consumers. Economic experts expressed skepticism at this plan, as beef imports from the South American nation only account for 0.6% of the overall beef supply of the U.S.

Housing Affordability Another Key Issue Facing Americans

Over 80% of Americans believe that it is harder to buy a home now than it was for earlier generations, according to a February poll from CBS News. Echoing this sentiment, a poll from Pew found that 62% of Americans are worried about the cost of housing.

The Trump administration is tackling this concern with a variety of different initiatives. These include banning institutional investors from buying single-family homes, leaving them on the market for everyday consumers. The White House has also directed the government to purchase $200 billion in mortgage securities in an effort to help reduce the cost of home loans.

While these ideas may help to ease the problem in the short term, they will not address the larger issue that is fueling the sharp increase in home prices. Experts believe that a shortage of affordable housing is the root cause of these increases, a problem that took hold after the Great Recession in 2008 - 2009. A recent analysis from Goldman Sachs detailed that the U.S. would need to build up to 4 million more homes above the normal pace of construction to combat the current housing shortage.

Spiraling Health Care Costs a Major Concern

Lastly, Americans are citing the rising cost of health care as one of their main financial worries. This concern has been amplified since Congress did not extend some of the subsidies previously offered by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The failure to extend these subsidies resulted in significantly higher insurance premiums for millions of Americans.

Americans who use the ACA marketplace to find and purchase insurance plans have seen the biggest increases, leading many to skip coverage entirely simply because they can no longer afford the premiums. The rising costs were the most elevated in users who used the enhanced premium subsidies in the past.

Those leaning on the ACA have not been the only ones impacted by rising health care costs. According to health policy research firm KFF, workers using employer-sponsored health insurance plans are also facing increases of 6% to 7% in 2026. KFF noted that the cost of private health care insurance has doubled since 2008.

The Trump administration is trying to bring drug costs under control through its new TrumpRx website. The initiative is designed to offer lower direct-to-consumer prescription prices. However, the site does not help lower the cost of health insurance, nor does it count toward a plan's deductible. In short, it does not address the soaring costs of insurance.

The Trump-sponsored "Big, Beautiful Bill" piece of legislation also cut spending on Medicaid and other social programs in order to pay for tax cuts. The rollback of these benefits is making it more difficult for Americans to bridge the gap between what they need for their health care needs and what they can actually afford.

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