Four key takeaways from the Gallup Poll (2001-2026):
- Democrats’ satisfaction with the system of government is at a historic low for either party. A mere 12% of Democrats are satisfied with the system of government, compared with 24% of Independents and 52% of Republicans. This is the first time in the past 25 years that any party dipped below 20% satisfaction.
- Americans’ satisfaction with their quality of life is at a historic low. Just 64% of Americans are somewhat or very satisfied with their overall quality of life. This is an all-time low for the nation and also masks a 46 percentage-point gap between Republicans (88%) and Democrats (42%).
- Americans’ satisfaction with the opportunity to get ahead by working hard has become extremely polarized. Only 24% of Democrats are somewhat or very satisfied with the opportunity to get ahead by working hard, compared to 85% of Republicans. The second largest gap was 40 percentage points in 2019.
- On multiple dimensions, Republicans’ and Democrats’ satisfaction is highly sensitive to whether their party controls the White House. Democrats have displayed an especially sharp drop in satisfaction during President Trump’s second term.
While there has been much attention to current events in the past months, ranging from the cost of living to the war in Iran to the upcoming midterms, there has been less focus on how people feel they are faring overall and how they feel about the state of the nation. We look at how people feel about their lives and how they feel about the country in January of 2025 and 2026 compared to the previous two decades. The data come from the Gallup Poll Social Series (GPSS), a monthly, nationally representative public opinion poll.1 We report trends in personal life satisfaction, satisfaction with how things in the US are going in general, and overall quality of life. We also report on satisfaction with several specific domains: our system of government, the moral and ethical climate, the size and role of big corporations, and opportunities to get ahead in life based on hard work.