24% of Americans Use AI, Only 17.9% Trust Congress: Inside the Census Data Nobody Sees

How is America really doing? Not according to politicians or pundits — according to the people themselves. The Census Bureau runs the Household Topics and Pulse Survey (HTOPS), asking hundreds of thousands of Americans about their daily reality: Can they afford food? Do they trust their government? Are they using AI? The data is extraordinary — and almost nobody sees it. We built HowIsAmerica.com to change that.

The First Site to Make HTOPS Data Accessible

The Census Bureau's Household Topics and Pulse Survey is one of the most ambitious data collection efforts in American history — a near-real-time survey of how Americans are actually living. But the data is locked in dense tables, buried in Census Bureau interfaces that require statistical expertise to navigate. We processed all of it into something anyone can explore: state-by-state comparisons, interactive tools, and plain-English analysis across every dimension of American life the Census tracks.

AI Usage: The Surprising Demographics

24% of Americans now report using AI — but the demographics challenge every assumption. The $25K–$35K income bracket uses AI at a higher rate than the $150K+ bracket. That's not a typo. Lower-income Americans are adopting AI tools at rates that rival or exceed the wealthy. The narrative that AI is a tool of the elite doesn't survive contact with the data.

State-level variation is dramatic. Some states show AI adoption rates above 30%, while others lag below 18%. Age, education, and income all play roles — but not always in the directions you'd expect.

Trust in Institutions: The Full Picture

Only 17.9% of Americans trust Congress. That's not surprising. What is surprising is the full ranking: the Census Bureau itself is the most trusted institution at 70.7%, followed by the military and local government. The media, Congress, and social media platforms cluster at the bottom. HowIsAmerica breaks this down by state, income, age, and education — revealing which communities have lost faith in which institutions, and why.

Food Insecurity, Housing Burden, and the Squeeze

7% of Americans report food insecurity. Housing cost burden affects millions more. We combined these dimensions — plus employment, healthcare access, and financial stress — into two original composite indexes:

• Wellbeing Index: A state-by-state score combining food security, housing affordability, employment, health insurance coverage, and mental health indicators
• Squeeze Index: Measuring how squeezed Americans feel — combining housing burden, food insecurity, financial stress, and difficulty paying bills

Interactive Calculator: How Are You Doing?

We built an interactive "How Are You Doing?" calculator that lets you input your own situation — income, housing costs, food security, employment status — and see how you compare to your state and national averages. It's personal, data-driven, and designed to turn abstract statistics into something that feels real.

Six Federal Data Sources Combined

HowIsAmerica doesn't rely on a single dataset. We combined six federal data sources to build a comprehensive picture of American life:

• Census Household Pulse Survey (HTOPS)
• Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data
• Census American Community Survey
• USDA food security data
• HUD housing affordability data
• Federal Reserve economic data

The result is 270+ pages covering all 51 states (including D.C.), with state profiles, topic deep-dives, interactive tools, and original analysis.