A classic debate in the economic voting literature concerns whether voters mainly evaluate the incumbent on the basis of the national economy or their own pocketbook. In this paper, we explore a third possibility that has been largely overlooked: that they vote on the basis of the economic situation of their social group(s). In doing so, this paper makes a theoretical as well as an empirical contribution. First, it details a theoretical argument as to why we should expect voters to evaluate the economy on the basis of social groups rooted in e.g. ethnicity, class, age and locality, and how this behaviour depends on the nature of group attachments. Second, it tests the theory on two datasets. The first study uses several waves from the British Election Study Internet Panel to estimate the effects of changing economic group perceptions on incumbent approval. The second study analyses the results from a large Danish survey experiment that manipulates respondents' perceptions of the economic situations of various social in- and out-groups. We discuss the implications for our understanding of economic voting and electoral accountability, as well as potential applications to current political trends.