Americans from four cities rate the state of our union: 'It's not heading in a good direction'

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WATCH NOW: Americans from four cities rate the state of our union: 'It's not heading in a good direction'

What is the state of the union? Americans weigh in

FLORIDA, NEW YORK, OHIO, WASHINGTON, D.C. – Florida, Ohio, New York and Washington, D.C., residents told Fox News ahead of President Biden's State of the Union address that the country is not headed in a good direction.

Biden faces a slew of challenges as he prepares to give his State of the Union address Tuesday, ranging from the ongoing pandemic, inflation, economic volatility, a stalled agenda and war in Europe. Locals from small towns and large cities alike told Fox News that there's still significant division in the country more than a year after the president, who ran on a campaign of unity, took office.

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"The state of the union is in a sorry shape," Kenny, of Kansas, said, citing inflation, the economy and the war in Ukraine. 

A Dayton, Ohio, man told Fox News that the country is "not heading in a very good direction."

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"The border's not secure," he said. "The Russian thing's insecure, inflation's high, gas prices are high."

John, a New Yorker, told Fox News: "We've kind of lost our national narrative. Actually, I think we are a little bit lost at the moment."

"This administration certainly isn't playing a strong role in continuing the legacy of being the protector of democracy," he added. 

Another Ohio man said both housing and car prices are bad and there are "so many folks that really don't want a job."  

Jeanna, from Florida, told Fox News: "State of our union now, I think things are just not doing good at all."

"It's hard for people just to even talk to each other, and things that in the past we used to be able to just converse about, it doesn't really happen that way anymore," she added.  

Kenny from Kansas speaks with Fox News Digital.

Larry from Panama City, Florida, said the state of America is "the worst it's been in my lifetime. I think our country is divided."

"I think the people are hurting," he continued. "The government doesn't care." 

Dante, of Washington, D.C., said things are "not much different from the first state of the union with [former President] Donald Trump." 

US Vice President Mike Pence claps as Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi appears to rip a copy of US President Donald Trump speech after he delivers the State of the Union address at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on February 4, 2020. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

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Another D.C. resident, Shaun, told Fox News: "It'd be really beneficial if [Biden] cut the stimulus check one more time. You know, Donald Trump, he looked out for us."

FILE - President Biden speaks as he announces Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as his nominee to the Supreme Court in the Cross Hall of the White House, Feb. 25, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

A woman from Dayton said she believed America was improving socially, but "the financial status" needs to pick up.

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A New York woman said: "I'm not even thinking about the state of the union. I'm thinking about the state of the world."

Dante told Fox News: "I can't say we're going in the wrong direction. I wouldn't even say the right direction either."

"I say we like in the middle, stagnant," he added.

Matt Wall contributed to this report.