Consumer Sentiment Unpacked—Higher-Income, Younger Consumers Are Most Optimistic: US Consumer Survey Insights Extra

The Coresight Research monthly US Consumer Survey Insights series offers a more detailed or specific take on trends and data from our weekly surveys of US consumers. This month, we take a deep dive into our comprehensive weekly survey data since the start of 2025 to reveal trends in US consumer sentiment by age, income, location type (rural vs. urban) and ethnicity.

Discover which consumer groups are most optimistic about the US economy and their personal finances, and how have their expectations recently changed. Plus, we reveal which consumer groups are most sensitive stock market changes when it comes to their spending behavior.

The appendix of this report provides results on consumers’ shopping behaviors from our weekly survey questions aggregated in four-week increments over the past few months.

Data in this research report are proprietary survey findings on:

• US consumers’ expectations for the economy overall and for their household financial situation—breakdown by age, income, location type and ethnicity
• Proportions of surveyed consumer subsets (by age, income and location type) who report that changes in the stock market affect their spending on nonessential purchases

Introduction

Consumer Sentiment: Headline Trends

• Expectations for Personal Finances By Income
• By Age
• By Location Type
• By Ethnicity
• Expectations for the Economy By Income
• By Age
• By Location Type
• By Ethnicity

Spending Sensitivity to Stock Market Changes

What We Think

Methodology

Appendix: Monthly Survey Results

34-page PDF report

1. All Respondents: Whether They Expect Their Household Financial Situation/the Economy to Get Better or Worse Over the Next 12 Months—Net Better (% of Respondents, Four-Week Rolling Average)
2. All Respondents: Whether They Expect Their Household Financial Situation to Get Better or Worse Over the Next 12 Months (% of Respondents, Four-Week Rolling Average)
3. All Respondents: Whether They Expect the Economy to Get Better or Worse Over the Next 12 Months (% of Respondents, Four-Week Rolling Average)
4. All Respondents: Whether They Expect Their Household Financial Situation to Get Better or Worse Over the Next 12 Months—Net Better, by Income (% of Respondents, Four-Week Rolling Average)
5. Low-Income (<$50,000) Respondents: Whether They Expect Their Household Financial Situation to Get Better or Worse Over the Next 12 Months (% of Respondents, Four-Week Rolling Average) (% of Respondents, Four-Week Rolling Average)
6. Middle-Income ($50,000 to <$100,000) Respondents: Whether They Expect Their Household Financial Situation to Get Better or Worse Over the Next 12 Months (% of Respondents, Four-Week Rolling Average)
7. High-Income ($100,000+) Respondents: Whether They Expect Their Household Financial Situation to Get Better or Worse Over the Next 12 Months (% of Respondents, Four-Week Rolling Average)
8. All Respondents: Whether They Expect Their Household Financial Situation to Get Better or Worse Over the Next 12 Months—Net Better, by Age (% of Respondents, Four-Week Rolling Average)
9. Respondents Aged 18–29: Whether They Expect Their Household Financial Situation to Get Better or Worse Over the Next 12 Months (% of Respondents, Four-Week Rolling Average)
10. Respondents Aged 30–44: Whether They Expect Their Household Financial Situation to Get Better or Worse Over the Next 12 Months (% of Respondents, Four-Week Rolling Average)
11. Respondents Aged 45–60: Whether They Expect Their Household Financial Situation to Get Better or Worse Over the Next 12 Months (% of Respondents, Four-Week Rolling Average)
12. Respondents Aged Over 60: Whether They Expect Their Household Financial Situation to Get Better or Worse Over the Next 12 Months (% of Respondents, Four-Week Rolling Average)
13. All Respondents: Whether They Expect Their Household Financial Situation to Get Better or Worse Over the Next 12 Months—Net Better, by Location Type (% of Respondents, Four-Week Rolling Average)
14. Urban Respondents: Whether They Expect Their Household Financial Situation to Get Better or Worse Over the Next 12 Months (% of Respondents, Four-Week Rolling Average)
15. Suburban Respondents: Whether They Expect Their Household Financial Situation to Get Better or Worse Over the Next 12 Months (% of Respondents, Four-Week Rolling Average)
16. Rural Respondents: Whether They Expect Their Household Financial Situation to Get Better or Worse Over the Next 12 Months (% of Respondents, Four-Week Rolling Average)
17. All Respondents: Whether They Expect Their Household Financial Situation to Get Better or Worse Over the Next 12 Months—Net Better, by Ethnicity (% of Respondents, Four-Week Rolling Average)
18. White Respondents : Whether They Expect Their Household Financial Situation to Get Better or Worse Over the Next 12 Months (% of Respondents, Four-Week Rolling Average)
19. Black Respondents: Whether They Expect Their Household Financial Situation to Get Better or Worse Over the Next 12 Months (% of Respondents, Four-Week Rolling Average)
20. Hispanic Respondents: Whether They Expect Their Household Financial Situation to Get Better or Worse Over the Next 12 Months (% of Respondents, Four-Week Rolling Average)
21. Other Respondents: Whether They Expect Their Household Financial Situation to Get Better or Worse Over the Next 12 Months (% of Respondents, Four-Week Rolling Average)
22. All Respondents: Whether They Expect the Economy to Get Better or Worse Over the Next 12 Months—Net Better, by Income (% of Respondents, Four-Week Rolling Average)
23. Low-Income (<$50,000) Respondents: Whether They Expect the Economy to Get Better or Worse Over the Next 12 Months (% of Respondents, Four-Week Rolling Average)
24. Middle-Income ($50,000 to <$100,000) Respondents: Whether They Expect the Economy to Get Better or Worse Over the Next 12 Months (% of Respondents, Four-Week Rolling Average)
25. High-Income ($100,000+) Respondents: Whether They Expect the Economy to Get Better or Worse Over the Next 12 Months (% of Respondents, Four-Week Rolling Average)
26. All Respondents: Whether They Expect the Economy to Get Better or Worse Over the Next 12 Months—Net Better, by Age (% of Respondents, Four-Week Rolling Average)
27. Respondents Aged Between 18-29: Whether They Expect the Economy to Get Better or Worse Over the Next 12 Months (% of Respondents, Four-Week Rolling Average)
28. Respondents Aged Between 30-44: Whether They Expect the Economy to Get Better or Worse Over the Next 12 Months (% of Respondents, Four-Week Rolling Average)
29. Respondents Aged Between 45-60: Whether They Expect the Economy to Get Better or Worse Over the Next 12 Months (% of Respondents, Four-Week Rolling Average)
30. Respondents Aged over 60: Whether They Expect the Economy to Get Better or Worse Over the Next 12 Months (% of Respondents, Four-Week Rolling Average)
31. All Respondents: Whether They Expect Their Household Financial Situation to Get Better or Worse Over the Next 12 Months—Net Better, by Location Type (% of Respondents, Four-Week Rolling Average)
32. Urban Respondents: Whether They Expect the Economy to Get Better or Worse Over the Next 12 Months (% of Respondents, Four-Week Rolling Average)
33. Suburban Respondents: Whether They Expect the Economy to Get Better or Worse Over the Next 12 Months (% of Respondents, Four-Week Rolling Average)
34. Rural Respondents: Whether They Expect the Economy to Get Better or Worse Over the Next 12 Months (% of Respondents, Four-Week Rolling Average)
35. All Respondents: Whether They Expect The Economy to Get Better or Worse Over the Next 12 Months—Net Better, by Ethnicity (% of Respondents, Four-Week Rolling Average)
36. White Respondents : Whether They Expect The Economy to Get Better or Worse Over the Next 12 Months (% of Respondents, Four-Week Rolling Average)
37. Black Respondents: Whether They Expect The Economy to Get Better or Worse Over the Next 12 Months (% of Respondents, Four-Week Rolling Average)
38. Hispanic Respondents: Whether They Expect The Economy to Get Better or Worse Over the Next 12 Months (% of Respondents, Four-Week Rolling Average)
39. Other Respondents: Whether They Expect The Economy to Get Better or Worse Over the Next 12 Months (% of Respondents, Four-Week Rolling Average)
40. All Respondents: Whether Changes in the Stock Market Affect Their Spending on Nonessential Purchases (% of Respondents)
41. All Respondents: Proportion of Each Income Group Who Report That Changes in the Stock Market Affect Their Spending on Nonessential Purchases (% of Respondents in Each Subset)
42. All Respondents: Proportion of Each Age Group Who Report That Changes in the Stock Market Affect Their Spending on Nonessential Purchases (% of Respondents in Each Subset)
43. All Respondents: Proportion of Each Group, by Location Type, Who Report That Changes in the Stock Market Affect Their Spending on Nonessential Purchases (% of Respondents in Each Subset)

Appendix

All Respondents: Whether They Expect Their Household Financial Situation To Get Better or Worse Over the Next 12 Months (% of Respondents, Monthly Average)

All Respondents: Whether They Expect the Economy To Get Better or Worse Over the Next 12 Months (% of Respondents, Monthly Average)

All Respondents: Activities They Have Done in the Past Two Weeks (% of Respondents, Monthly Average)

All Respondents: Which Retailers They Have Bought Food Products from in the Past Two Weeks (% of Respondents, Monthly Average)

All Respondents: Which Retailers They Have Bought Nonfood Products from in the Past Two Weeks (% of Respondents, Monthly Average)

All Respondents: What They Have Bought In-Store in the Past Two Weeks (% of Respondents, Monthly Average)

All Respondents: What They Have Bought Online in the Past Two Weeks (% of Respondents, Monthly Average)