Gallup Poll: Americans’ Optimism About the Future Craters To Lowest Point in Decades

(Photo by Kyle Mazza/NurPhoto via AP)

A recent Gallup survey based on more than 20,000 interviews found Americans’ optimism about their future personal lives has fallen to a new low.

Gallup released findings this week from their National Health and Well-Being Index, which is based on data collected from thousands throughout the four quarters of the year. More than 22,000 interviews were spread across all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

According to the data, Americans who predicted they would have “high quality lives” in five years declined to 59.2% in 2025. It’s the lowest number Gallup has measured on the question since they began asking two decades prior.

Gallup’s report notes that personal optimism among Americans has taken some significant hits since the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Since 2020, the number of people predicting personal “high quality” lives has dropped by 9% or approximately 24 million people. The number dropped just under 4% between 2024 and 2025 while 2021-2023 saw the biggest hits. The polling has a margin of error of .5%-2%.

The biggest drops since President Donald Trump reentered the White House have been among Hispanics and Democrats. Hispanics’ personal optimism has fallen 6% since 2024, while Democrats have dropped nearly 8%. Republicans saw a nearly 5% drop between 2021 and 2024, but they only fell by less than a point since then.

Gallup noted that major drops in personal optimism have coincided with rising concerns about inflation. Americans who describe themselves as “thriving” sit at 48%, according to the survey. It sat at around the same number when President Trump was first inaugurated.

The polling numbers dropped just as the president was hit with some surprising approval data from the typically conservative-friendly Rasmussen Reports. According to a new survey, 48% of respondents answered former President Joe Biden when asked whether he or Trump did a better job in the White House. Another 40% answered Trump.

“If an election were held TODAY between Trump and Biden, Biden would win,” Rasmussen Reports head pollster Mark Mitchell wrote on X this week.

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