Americans Trust This Institution the Least

Americans' confidence and feelings on just about everything are carefully studied each year through polls and interviews by trusted institutions. In particular, the Gallup Poll shows where American confidence lies and which institutions miss the mark when it comes to being trusted.

The first Gallup Poll took place in 1935 when the Social Security Act passed after 89% of Americans admitted they'd support an "old-age pension for the needy." After it passed, average payments were $60 for a couple and $40 for a single person.

A few years later, 62% of Americans showed they favored having a different minimum wage for different areas in the country. Then, in 1939, 63% of Americans said they disapproved of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, yet he won reelection. Over the years, many other polls have shown exactly what Americans think about:

• Banks
• Big Business
• Church/Organized Religion
• Congress
• Criminal Justice System
• Higher Education
• Large Tech Companies
• Medical System
• Military
• Newspapers
• Organized Labor
• Police
• Presidency
• Public Schools
• Small Business
• Television News
• U.S. Supreme Court

The latest Gallup Poll results are in. Of those 17 institutions mentioned above, only one of them gained traction with the American public: law enforcement. Democrats, Independents, and Republicans reported higher confidence in this particular institution at 45%, 49%, and 62%, respectively. Compare that to 2023's approval ratings of 40%, 37%, and 60%. There were clear gains.

Several others stood out as those that Americans have lost confidence in. Find out more about who is the least trusted institution in the U.S. and why Americans feel that way. (Also learn which Democratic leaders are the most popular among Americans.)

While there are few institutions Americans trust, the loss of trust in the U.S. Congress is evident. More than half of Americans responding to the 2024 Gallup Poll reported having little trust in Congress. Check out the exact percentages below, ranked by percentage from high to low.

• 57% have "Very Little" trust;
• 31% have "Some" trust;
• 5% have "Quite a Lot" of trust;
• 4% have a "Great Deal" of trust;
• 3% have no trust at all.

Who is behind the mistrust? The U.S. Congress is made up of two senators from each state (100 in all) and the 435 voting members of the House of Representatives.

Representatives: Elections for House members run every two years, and those elected officials must be at least 25 years old and can be immigrants as long as they've been U.S. citizens for seven years or more. Voters choose new representatives every two years because these elected officials are supposed to listen closely to the constituents and influence policies based on what the people want.

Senators: Every six years, elections for senators take place. Senators must have been U.S. citizens for nine years or longer and must be 30 or older. They have longer terms because they're more experienced and know how to avoid making policies based on current trends versus years of political experience. They still listen to constituents but they focus on needs that aren't going to diminish as trends change.

If you look at those trust ratings from the angle of the different partisans, it's not much different.

• 11% of Independents have "Quite a Lot" or "Great Deal" of trust in the Congress;
• 10% of Democrats have "Quite a Lot" or "Great Deal" of trust in the Congress;
• 4% of Republicans have "Quite a Lot" or "Great Deal" of trust in the Congress.

Looking at Pew Research's National Election Study, it has been a very long time since the public trust in the government has been high. It was nearly 80% with Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson. Since then, the highest it has been was in 2001 with George W. Bush. It has declined since Ford and hasn't regained much ground. Under both Obama and Trump, using moving averages, public trust reached the lowest point at 17%.

Pew Research also found that Asian, Black, and Hispanic adults had higher levels of trust at 36%, 27%, and 30%, respectively. Trust levels among white adults were much lower at 19%.

The Gallup Poll results on "Congress and the Public" narrow down some areas where Americans are frustrated. When asked if Congress is in touch with the average American, 79% felt they were out of touch.

Between 1995 and 2015, the belief that Congress members were corrupt increased from 50% to 52%. No updates to these results have occurred during the Trump or Biden administrations.

In 2015, 69% of Americans felt that Congressmen and women did more for special interest groups than their constituents.

With the results of the Gallup Poll, the top 15 answers to "What is the most important thing you want your representative in Congress to do when Congress begins its new session?" were:

• Balance the budget
• Bring troops home
• Create jobs
• Follow through on campaign promises
• Get along
• Improve the economy
• Improve the education system
• Improve foreign policy
• Improve healthcare
• Listen to the people
• Lower taxes
• Pass immigration reform
• Pass some kind of legislation
• Raise the minimum wage
• Stop terrorism

Few of those have changed. The minimum wage remains $7.25 an hour, where it has been since July 24, 2009. Bickering between parties remains high. Health care costs continue to skyrocket, except for prescription drug prices that did drop for some patients because of the Biden administration's Inflation Reduction Act. Most things on this list haven't changed at all since people started asking Congress to listen to the voters.

Overall, confidence reached 28%, down from 33% before the pandemic. It's a far cry from the peak of 43% in 2004.

The following percentages are in order of "Great Deal," "Quite a Lot," "Some," "Very Little," or "None," and the institutions are also in alphabetical order. Any variation from 100% is due to Americans with no opinion either way.

• Small Business: 36%, 32%, 25%, and 6% (No one responded "None")
• Military: 34%, 27%, 27%, 11%, and 1%
• Higher Education: 18%, 18%, 32%, 30%, and 2%
• Medical System: 17%, 19%, 34%, 29%, and 1%
• Church/Organized Religion: 17%, 15%, 35%, 30% and 2%
• U.S. Supreme Court: 13%, 17%, 31%, 35%, and 3%
• Public Schools: 13%, 16%, 36%, 32%, and 2%
• Organized Labor: 12%, 16%, 43%, 25%, and 2%
• Large Tech Companies: 14%, 13%, 39%, 31%, and 1%
• Banks: 12%, 15%, 47%, 25%, and 1%
• Presidency: 13%, 13%, 23%, 46%, and 4%
• Criminal Justice System: 8%, 13%, 34%, 42%, and 3%
• Newspapers: 7%, 11%, 31%, 45%, and 3%
• Big Business: 6%, 10%, 42%, 41%, and 1%
• TV News: 6%, 6%, 32%, 51%, and 5%

A Gallup Poll only paints a small picture of what has Americans feeling down and wanting change. Explore the other factors causing a decline in American pride.