A new CNBC/SurveyMonkey American Dream Pulse Survey found that 51 percent of U.S. adults say the American Dream is now out of reach for most people. Another 45 percent said it is achievable only for some, while just 6 percent said it remains within reach for everyone.
The survey of 4,130 adults was conducted from May 6 to May 11, and it lands at a moment when Americans are still wrestling with higher prices for everyday life. Roughly four in five respondents said the cost of living is a major obstacle, about three in five pointed to housing costs, and nearly half cited healthcare expenses. Many also blamed low wages, a combination that helps explain why confidence in upward mobility has weakened even as people continue to talk about the american dream.
Elizabeth Suhay said Americans today are less likely than people in previous decades to believe the economy rewards hard work in a fair way. She said they are less likely to see the American economy as meritocratic, or to believe it delivers success to a typical hardworking person and gives lower-income people a real chance to move up. In her view, rising costs and stagnant opportunity are reshaping how people think about mobility.
The findings arrive as inflation climbed to 3.8 percent in April and the national average price for regular gas moved above $4.50 a gallon, with gasoline topping $5 per gallon in seven states. A separate /Ipsos poll found 70 percent of Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of the cost of living, while 22 percent approve, underscoring the political strain around affordability as households keep feeling squeezed.
The White House says Trump has taken significant action to improve housing affordability, including moves aimed at expanding supply and lowering barriers to construction. Davis Ingle said the president “will not stop fighting” until homeownership is within reach for every American, but the survey shows most people still do not see that promise as real yet. For now, the bigger story is not whether Americans still believe in the American Dream in the abstract, but whether they think their paychecks can ever catch up with the price of living it.
