Over 4 in 10 Virginians Say They’re Worse Off Than a Year Ago

If money feels tighter than it did a year ago, you’re not alone.

A college survey asked Virginians how their finances compare with last year, and a sizable share said things had gotten worse.

Here’s what they told the survey about their money.

Note: This is general information, not financial advice. Survey results and economic figures are subject to change.

Who Ran the Survey and How

Roanoke College’s business school runs this consumer sentiment report.

It’s a survey of how people feel about their money, and it has a 15-year history.

This round went out online from Aug. 4 to 7 through Prolific, an online research panel.

The college shared the results Sept. 3.

You had to be 18 or older and live in Virginia to answer.

In all, 574 people answered.

The college then adjusted the answers to match Virginia’s adult population and its six regions.

After that, the report counts the sample as roughly 263 people.

The scores come from five questions modeled on the University of Michigan’s Survey of Consumers.

A lower score means people feel gloomier about their money.

The college also changed how it reached people for this round.

In February, it finished 930 interviews.

Of those, 555 came from random phone calls and texts, and 375 came online.

In August 2025, it finished 775 interviews. Of those, 382 came by phone and text, and 393 came online.

So keep that in mind when you compare scores from one round to the next.

Also, these answers come from an online panel. Read each percentage as a snapshot of the people who answered.

First up: how people rate their money today. After that, what they expect next.

Household Finances Today

People were asked to compare their money now with a year ago.

42% said they’re worse off.

That’s a little over 4 in 10.

The survey also has a Current Conditions score. It puts how people feel about their money today into one number.

This time it fell 11.0 points from February, to 53.7.

The college says that’s the lowest since the 2022 inflation spike.

A year ago, in August 2025, the score was 65.7. So today’s reading is 12.0 points lower.

If you’ve paid more for gas this past year, you’ve felt what the national price data shows.

Holding Back on Big Purchases

51% said it’s a bad time to buy big things that last, like cars and appliances.

If you’ve been putting off a car or an appliance, you have company.

That’s just over half of the people surveyed.

Yet spending numbers in the same report point the other way.

Across the country, spending growth after inflation rose from 0.5% to 3.4% at an annual pace.

Prices and Paychecks

Alice Kassens is an economics professor and dean at Roanoke College.

She links the drop to prices rising again and a cooling job market.

The report puts U.S. price growth at 2.4% in February.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) says prices are up 3.4% over the 12 months through August.

That’s the same as through July.

In plain terms, $100 of stuff from a year ago now costs about $103.40.

Gas is a big part of that. It’s up 27.4% over those 12 months.

So $100 of gas from a year ago now runs about $127.40.

Food went up less, by 2.7%.

The report blames much of this on the Middle East conflict, which pushed up gas and energy prices.

Paychecks tell a similar story.

Average hourly wage growth slowed from 3.7% in February to 3.2% in July.

Kassens notes that wages beat inflation for much of the past year. Now they’re nearly even with it.

Jobs are softer too.

Nationally, payrolls shrank by a net 23,000 jobs in July after adding 20,000 in June.

If your last raise was about 3%, it trails the 3.4% price rise through August.

The Year Ahead

People feel better about next year than about today.

The Expectations score, which tracks what people expect ahead, barely moved over a full year.

It went from 63.8 in August 2025 to 63.5 now.

Current Conditions fell 12.0 points.

Since February, though, the Expectations score fell 5.8 points. It now essentially matches its lowest level in the survey’s 15-year history.

Households’ outlook for the year ahead has held up better than their view of today.

Thirty-four percent expect their household finances to improve over the next year.

Kassens says that may be because households see today’s price pressure as tied to a world-events shock that may be temporary. Whether that holds will depend heavily on prices and jobs over the next two quarters.

If you expect your money to get better by this time next year, you’re among the 34%.

Compared With the Nation

Virginia and the nation feel alike about today.

They split on the outlook.

Virginia’s Current Conditions score is 53.7.

The national score is 51.9.

That’s only 1.8 points apart.

So Virginians feel much like the rest of the country about today.

The outlook is where they differ.

Virginia’s Expectations score is 63.5.

The national score is 51.5.

That’s a 12.0-point gap.

According to WDBJ7, that was the widest of the three Virginia-to-U.S. gaps.

Reading the Scores

These scores are about feelings, so your bank statement may look different.

The overall score fell to 59.6.

That's down 7.8 points since February and 4.9 points below a year ago.