Americans Optimistic for 2026
Most Americans don’t think 2025 was a very good year, but expect the year ahead to be better.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that just five percent (6%) of American Adults rate 2025 one of the best years ever. Fourteen percent (14%) think it was an excellent year and 19% rate 2025 a good year. However, 38% of Americans give 2025 a poor rating. The 39% who rate 2025 at least a good year is slightly up from last year, when 36% said the same about 2024. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
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The survey of 1,234 American Adults was conducted on December 21-23, 2025 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC.
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