| The voice of the world in numbers | | | Dec. 30, 2025 | | | Welcome to a special edition of Gallup's Front Page, featuring 10 charts that provide indispensable public opinion insights at the end of 2025. | | | | “If democracy is based on the will of the people, someone should go find out what that will is.” — George Gallup (1901-1984) | | | | | | | National Mood 1. Most Important Problem, Since 1935 | | | | The Trend: Gallup's “most important problem” question has captured Americans' foremost concerns across decades of economic, political and social change. The first reading of this open-ended measure, conducted in September 1935 during the Great Depression, found unemployment, the federal budget, keeping out of war, and taxes at the top of the list. Ninety years later, at the close of 2025, Americans most commonly name aspects of government or politics — and next, immigration, the economy in general, the high cost of living and national disunity. Most Important Problem Historical Trends | | | 2. Satisfaction With the Direction of the U.S., Since 1979 | | | | The Trend: Since Gallup began tracking national satisfaction in 1979, Americans' views have shifted in response to major economic, political and global events. Satisfaction peaked near 70% in 1999 and 2000 during a period of economic expansion tied to the dot-com boom. Other high points followed the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s and the post-9/11 period in the early 2000s. Lows have typically coincided with recessions, wars and partisan conflict. Over the past 20 years, satisfaction has more often remained below 40%, and it stands at 24% at the end of 2025. Satisfaction With the U.S. Historical Trends | | | 3. Party Identification, Since 1988 | | | | The Trend: Party identification is one of the most fundamental and predictive indicators in U.S. politics, measuring the shares of Americans who identify with the major parties or as political independents. Gallup first asked this in December 1939, when 36% identified as Republicans, 39% as Democrats and 20% as independents. Since the late 1980s, when telephone interviews became Gallup's primary data collection method for surveying U.S. adults, party ID has changed from roughly equal shares of Republicans, Democrats and independents to independents being the largest group by a wide margin. Gallup will publish an update on party identification for 2025 in January. Latest Story on Party Affiliation | | | 4. Waning Trust in Institutions, Since 1993 | | | | The Trend: Gallup has tracked public confidence in major U.S. institutions for decades. Averaging these ratings by category, confidence in the three branches of government has fallen from 35% in 1993 to 22% today, while trust in the media (television news and newspapers) has dropped most sharply, from 39% to 14%. Average confidence in other institutions, including banks, organized religion, the public schools, the military, the police, the medical system, the criminal justice system and big business, has slipped from 39% to 32%. Democrats' Confidence in U.S. Institutions Sinks to New Low | | | Social Transformation 5. Interracial and Gay Marriage Acceptance, Since 1958 | | | | The Trend: When Gallup first asked Americans in 1958 about marriage between Black people and White people, only 4% approved. Since then, support has risen almost uninterruptedly — to 20% in 1968, to majority approval by the 1990s, and to 94% in the latest reading in 2021. A similar increase is seen in views on the moral acceptability of same-sex relationships. In 1996, barely a quarter of Americans believed same-sex marriages should be valid (27%), and in 2001, 40% saw same-sex relations as morally acceptable. Since then, support for each has climbed steadily, with about two-thirds now saying same-sex relations are morally acceptable (64%) and that such marriages should be recognized by law (68%). U.S. Approval of Interracial Marriage at New High of 94%
Record Party Divide 10 Years After Same-Sex Marriage Ruling | | | 6. Religious Preferences of U.S. Adults, Since 1947 | | | | The Trend: Gallup has tracked Americans' religious preferences since the late 1940s. Protestant affiliation has gradually declined, from 69% in 1947 to 45% today, while Catholic identification has been relatively stable, typically just over 20%. The percentage of those with no religious preference has risen sharply: Religious “nones” have risen from 6% in 1947 to 22% today. The share identifying with other religions has increased slightly to 10%. Religious Preferences Largely Stable in U.S. Since 2020 | | | 7. Cigarette Smoking, Since 1944 | | | | The Trend: Since the 1940s, Gallup has observed a steady decline in cigarette smoking among U.S. adults, from over 40% then to just 11% today — a significant and sustained shift in behavior. Tobacco and Smoking Historical Trends | | | Global Views 8. Life Around the World, Since 2006 | | | | The Trend: Just as GDP measures economic output across countries, Gallup's Life Evaluation Index measures people's personal wellbeing worldwide. In over 140 countries, the Life Evaluation Index categorizes people as thriving, struggling or suffering based on how they rate their current and future lives. To capture emotional wellbeing, Gallup also created the Positive and Negative Experience Indexes, which measure people's daily emotions like stress, anger, worry and enjoyment. Global Indicator: Life Evaluation Index
Global Indicator: Emotional Wellbeing | | | 9. Employee Engagement, Since 2000 | | | | The Trend: Gallup's workplace science has tracked employee engagement for over two decades, measuring whether people are truly involved in and enthusiastic about their work. In the U.S., engagement edged up from 26% in 2000 to 36% in 2020 before sliding back to 31% today. Still, since 2009, U.S. engagement has consistently outpaced the global average, which has climbed from 12% to 21%. The European Union has remained stuck in the low teens throughout the trend, while China has risen from 5% to 20%. Global Indicator: Employee Engagement | | | 10. Desired Destinations for Migrants, Since 2011 | | | | The Trend: Gallup asks those who say they would like to move permanently to another country where they would like to go. Each year since the trend's inception, the U.S. has ranked as the most desired destination, although the 17% who named the U.S. in 2024 was on the lower end of the trend. Canada is a distant second, with 9% naming it as their country of choice. Look for Gallup's next update in early 2026. All Stories on Migration and Immigration | | | | | |
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