Scott Rasmussen's Number of the Day for January 5, 2026
The Number of the Day columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.
January 5, 2026: Ten percent (10%) of voters say, in terms off their personal finances, that they are much better off now than they were a year ago. A Napolitan News Service national survey conducted by RMG Research found 23% say they are somewhat better off, 23% say somewhat worse off, 16% much worse off, and 27% say about the same.
The survey also found 16% say, looking ahead a year from now, their personal finances will be much better. Thirty-four percent (34%) say somewhat better, 16% somewhat worse, 7% much worse, and 23% about the same.
Methodology
The survey of 1,000 registered voters was conducted online by Scott Rasmussen on December 20, 2025. Fieldwork for the survey was conducted by RMG Research, Inc. Certain quotas were applied, and the sample was lightly weighted by geography, gender, age, race, education, internet usage, and political party to reasonably reflect the nation’s population of registered voters. Other variables were reviewed to ensure that the final sample is representative of that population. The margin of sampling error for the full sample is +/- 3.1 percentage points.
Scott Rasmussen is the president of RMG Research, Inc. and founder of the Napolitan Institute.
Survey questions
In terms of your own personal finances, are you better off or worse off than you were a year ago?
- 10%-Much better off
- 23%-Somewhat better off
- 23%-Somewhat worse off
- 16%-Much worse off
- 27%-About the same
- 1%-Not sure
Looking ahead to a year from now, will your own personal finances be better, worse, or about the same?
- 16%-Much better
- 34%-Somewhat better
- 16%-Somewhat worse
- 7%-Much worse
- 23%-About the same
- 5%-Not sure
Each weekday, Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day explores interesting and newsworthy topics at the intersection of culture, politics, and technology.
- January 2, 2026-30 officials ran for a different office than the one to which they were elected in 2025
- January 1, 2026-20% of voters say New Year’s Day is one of our nation's most important holidays
- December 31, 2025-56% of voters say they will be awake when the New Year arrives
- December 30, 2025-172 years ago, the U.S. southern border was established
- December 29, 2025-2% of voters rate 2025 as the best year ever
To see other recent numbers, check out the archive.
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Columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.
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See also
Footnotes
