Rural Voters Frustrated by Economy Under Trump, Survey Finds
A survey of over 2,000 rural voters finds broad economic frustration, with grocery, gas and healthcare costs top concerns ahead of the midterms.
About half of rural American voters believe the economy has deteriorated since President Donald Trump returned to office, according to a new survey that highlights economic discontent within a group that has historically backed Trump and other Republicans.
The poll, conducted by The Associated Press in partnership with KFF, surveyed more than 2,000 rural registered voters and found broadly negative views of both the national and local economies, including among many Republicans. Grocery, gas and healthcare costs emerged as the top pain points for respondents, who were surveyed over two weeks starting in mid-August. A larger share of rural voters than voters overall said they worry about affording groceries or gas.
At the same time, roughly half of rural voters approve of Trump's job performance — a higher level than among U.S. adults overall in separate AP-NORC polling. The findings suggest that many rural voters have not turned against Trump, but also largely do not believe he has delivered the economic revival he promised on the campaign trail.
Ed Westrick, a registered Republican and veteran who lives in rural Texas, rated Trump's job performance as "middle-of-the-road." Westrick, 59, a technical trainer in the electronics industry, said he has seen an increase in business partly because he works with defense contractors, but remains concerned about the cost of living.
"He has done some good things, but he also does some things I don't agree with... like what's going on in the (Persian) Gulf with the oil and the cost of gas," Westrick said. He added that he is not sure he will cast a midterm ballot — a troubling sign for Republicans in a key state in their fight to keep control of Congress.
Pamela Shaw, an independent voter who lives in a rural area near Asheville, North Carolina, said she sees the impact of rising costs in her community. "Everyone has to pay their part. And for those that want to get richer and richer and richer and buy more and more luxury while other individuals are struggling every day to buy $6.99 pound hamburger, which is on sale, we really have a problem," said Shaw, 59.
As the election approaches, only about four in ten rural voters approve of Trump's handling of the economy. They rate him similarly on his handling of the Iran war, an entanglement that has proved expensive for the U.S. and increased oil and gas prices. Rural voters also rank pocketbook concerns and fraud in government programs higher than perennial issues such as gun policy and abortion among the topics they want to hear about from politicians.
Rural Americans skew Republican and have historically been an instrumental voting bloc for Trump. The survey indicates that while rural voters appear unlikely to support Democrats on a large scale, Trump and the Republican Party could face challenges with them in November.
The poll of 2,241 U.S. adults registered to vote in rural areas was conducted between August 12 and 24, 2026, using a sample drawn from the SSRS probability-based Opinion Panel. The margin of sampling error for the full sample is plus or minus 3 percentage points. KFF researchers worked with AP to design the survey sample and questionnaire, and to analyze and report the findings.