Quinnipiac poll finds more Pennsylvania voters say they are worse off financially than a year ago

Pennsylvania voters are increasingly describing their personal finances as worse than they were a year ago, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll highlighted by The Hill on July 16. The survey results come as Pennsylvania remains a battleground state and as the 2026 midterms approach later this year.

The Hill reported that 44 percent of respondents in the Quinnipiac poll said they are worse off financially than they were one year ago. The reporting also said that, compared with a few months earlier, more voters now describe themselves as worse off.

The Quinnipiac survey was conducted in Pennsylvania and is part of a broader set of measurements commonly used by campaigns and analysts to gauge voter sentiment going into election periods. Financial evaluations are often treated as an indicator of how voters assess the economy in their own lives, distinct from national economic metrics.

Pennsylvania’s electoral profile has made state-level polling a frequent focus for federal elections. In the 2024 cycle, Pennsylvania was carried by President Donald Trump, and the new poll’s release has been framed in that context as voters look ahead to later this year’s midterm contests.

Although the poll’s headline finding concerns personal finances, its timing also intersects with public discussion of household costs, including prices for everyday goods and the cost of living. The Hill’s report ties the poll’s results to shifting voter views when comparing the current moment to a year ago.

The Hill did not in its summary detail every subgroup result or the full cross-tabs of the Quinnipiac survey. It also did not specify the margin of error in the excerpted information, nor did it break down responses by party affiliation or other demographic categories in the portion available from the source write-up.

Quinnipiac University polling results are typically released with methodological details and full question wording in the survey documentation accompanying publication. Additional context, including how respondents were asked to compare their financial situations over time and how the results changed from earlier waves, would be required to interpret the extent and direction of any shifts.

As Pennsylvania voters head into the latter part of 2026, the poll provides another datapoint for observers tracking voter sentiment in the state. The practical impact of such polling is not the immediate rewriting of policy decisions but the way it can shape expectations about which messages and issues resonate with voters as election deadlines near.