No spin · No editorial · You interpret

The economy
under every
president,
in data.

Nineteen economic metrics across five administrations, plus live military spend tracking across four active conflicts — 32 years of data from BEA, BLS, Treasury, the Fed, CSIS, Brown University, and more. We don’t tell you who did better. We show you what the numbers did.

Open the ledger See methodologyUpdated Apr 2026
19
Economic metrics
4
Active conflicts tracked
5
Administrations
32yrs
Years of data
The economy, by administration31 yrs · BEA
ClintonBush W.ObamaTrumpBiden
Source: BEA
Section 01 · The Ledger

Every metric,
every president, at a glance.

Each cell shows the percent change in that metric across the administration’s tenure. Greens mean the number moved in the conventionally-preferred direction; oranges mean it moved away. We make no claim that the president caused the change— that’s your job.

Open full scorecard ↗
Metric
Clinton
1993–2001
Bush W.
2001–2009
Obama
2009–2017
Trump
2017–2021
Biden
2021–2025
Trump II
2025–
GrowthGDP Growth
+51.9%2.7%4.1%-102.4%4.1%-0.1%+1800.0%-0.1%1.7%-264.7%1.7%-2.8%+200.0%-2.8%2.8%LIVE
JobsUnemployment
-42.0%6.9%4.0%+45.0%4.0%5.8%-15.5%5.8%4.9%+65.3%4.9%8.1%-50.6%8.1%4.0%LIVE
PricesInflation (CPI)
+13.3%3.0%3.4%+11.8%3.4%3.8%-65.8%3.8%1.3%-7.7%1.3%1.2%+141.7%1.2%2.9%LIVE
MarketsS&P 500
+192.0%4521,320-31.6%1,320903+148.0%9032,239+67.8%2,2393,756+56.6%3,7565,881LIVE
FiscalDebt-to-GDP
-15.1%64.4%54.7%+23.8%54.7%67.7%+56.0%67.7%105.6%+22.3%105.6%129.2%-4.0%129.2%124.0%LIVE
WagesMedian Income
+13.8%$52.3K$59.5K-7.1%$59.5K$55.3K+9.0%$55.3K$60.3K+11.9%$60.3K$67.5K+20.7%$67.5K$81.5KLIVE
Each cell = percent change from inherited value to last year of administration.
Worsened
Improved
Section 02 · Deep Dive

The long view,
color-coded by who held office.

Pick a metric and see the full 31-year timeline. Each president’s segment is color-coded so you can compare spans at a glance — or zoom into the full dashboard for all 19 metrics side by side.

GDP Growth (%)

+13 more →

By administration

Clinton
1993–2001
+51.9%
2.7%4.1%
Bush W.
2001–2009
-102.4%
4.1%-0.1%
Obama
2009–2017
+1800.0%
-0.1%1.7%
Trump
2017–2021
-264.7%
1.7%-2.8%
Biden
2021–2025
+200.0%
-2.8%2.8%
See all 19 metrics
Jobs, wages, trade, debt, and more
Context mattersPresidents inherit economic conditions and share influence with Congress, the Fed, and global events. Correlation ≠ causation. Use this data to inform, not to conclude.
Coming Soon

Two new ways to see the data.

National averages and quarterly snapshots only get you so far. We're building two complements: one for the map, one for the moment.

THE STATE ATLAS

Fifty states.
One square each.

National averages hide everything interesting. Explore every state, every year since 2015, on the metrics that actually move families — sorted so the outliers are visible at a glance.

Interactive cartogram
Q2 · 2026
LIVE BROADCAST

Watch politicians.
Check the numbers.

Live Stream press briefings, hearings and addresses with AI fact-checking running alongside the video. Every economic claim verified against official data — BLS, BEA, Census, Fed, etc — in real time.

Real-time fact-check feed
Q2 · 2026
Section 03 · Principles

How we stay out of the way.

An unbiased source is a design problem before it is an editorial one. These three rules govern what gets published and what doesn’t.

01

Raw numbers only

Every value on this site comes straight from the source agency — BEA, BLS, Treasury, Census, Fed. No modeling, no seasonal adjustments of our own, no averaging across administrations.

Methodology
02

No verdicts, no rankings.

We don't pick winners. A chart shows what happened; the scorecard shows which direction the needle moved. Whether that was good or the president's doing is for you to decide.

Editorial policy
03

Context, not commentary.

Each metric comes with a definition, a benchmark from historical averages, and notes on what presidents actually influence. No op-eds, no hot takes, no guest columnists.

How we write
Section 04 · Sources

Where the numbers come from.

Every data point on Vote Unbiased is traceable to a single federal statistical agency or official market index. Click any chart cell to follow the citation trail.

BEABureau of Economic Analysis — GDP, trade balance, national accounts.
BLSBureau of Labor Statistics — unemployment, wages, jobs, CPI.
CensusU.S. Census Bureau — median income, poverty, demographics.
TreasuryU.S. Treasury — federal debt, deficit, budget.
Federal ReserveFed funds rate, money supply, balance sheet.
EIAEnergy Information Administration — gasoline, energy prices.
CSISCenter for Strategic & International Studies — military cost estimates, defense analysis.
Brown Univ.Costs of War Project — total war expenditures, veteran care, conflict budgets.
Kiel InstituteUkraine Support Tracker — bilateral aid commitments by country.
CBOCongressional Budget Office — deficit projections, spending analysis.
S&P GlobalS&P 500 index, credit ratings, financial indicators.
CRSCongressional Research Service — supplemental appropriations, military aid reports.
Monthly dispatch

One email a month.
The ledger, updated.

New data lands, old data gets revised, and we flag the ones that changed most. No campaign coverage. No horse race. Just the numbers.

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