Name: Adults under age 30 and those 65 and older express similar levels of satisfaction with how things are going in the country
Creator: Pew Research Center
Published: 2026-06-12
License: https://www.pewresearch.org/terms-and-conditions/

Hands holding American flag in a wheat field at sunset. Independence Day, 4th of July — (Galeanu Mihai via Getty Images)

About this research

This Pew Research Center report uses survey data to explore how U.S. adults think things are going for the country on the eve of its 250th anniversary – and what they see in the nation’s future.

Why did we do this?

Pew Research Center conducts high-quality research to inform the public, journalists and leaders. Studying Americans’ views about how things are functioning in the U.S. and their expectations for the future is a key part of the Center’s long-standing research agenda.

Learn more about Pew Research Center.

How did we do this?

This analysis includes new findings from a survey of 3,592 U.S. adults who are part of the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP). The survey was conducted April 6-12, 2026, and has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 1.9 percentage points.

Here are the questions from that survey used for this analysis, along with responses and the survey methodology.

Additionally, this analysis draws on previously released survey findings we published in recent years. Links to those earlier surveys are included throughout this report.

As the nation approaches its 250th birthday, the American public’s mood is sour – but with some signs of enduring optimism.

In Pew Research Center surveys over the past year, most people have told us they are dissatisfied with the way things are going in the United States and that they think the country’s best days are behind us.

In recent decades, Americans also have grown less trustful of each other and of institutions including the federal government, both major political parties, the mainstream media, and colleges and universities.

Compared with people in other countries, more Americans express gloomy views about how their democracy is working and doubts about whether fellow citizens have good morals.

And when asked to look ahead to 2050, upward of half of U.S. adults say they think the economy will be weaker, the U.S. will be less important in the world, the country will be more politically divided, and the American system of government will work worse than it does today.

Still, many Americans express some optimism when they are asked to think about the future in general terms.

Most people say they feel “hopeful” when they think about the future, and 54% say they feel “happy” when they ponder days to come.

About as many Americans say they are optimistic (48%) as say they are pessimistic (51%) about the future of the country as a whole.

And even on some questions where the balance of opinion leans negative, there are signs of recent improvement in the public’s mood.

Compared with our polling in 2023, more U.S. adults now think that in the coming decades, the country’s economy will grow stronger and its political divisions will become less sharp.

And satisfaction with the country’s direction was lower during much of the period from 2020 to 2024 than it was during 2025 and at the start of this year.

Feelings about the country’s direction are closely linked with people’s political leanings. During President Donald Trump’s second term, Republicans have been much happier than Democrats with how things are going. A few short years ago, when Joe Biden was president, Democrats tended to be more positive than Republicans.

And views about the country’s future are also connected with age. When asked to look ahead to what things might be like in the year 2050, the youngest U.S. adults express more pessimistic views than the country’s older adults do.

This report focuses on questions we’ve asked in recent years that shed light on how the country is feeling about itself on the eve of a milestone anniversary. We also look at some questions we asked in a new survey, conducted in April 2026, asking Americans about their expectations for what the country will be like in 2050, roughly 25 years from now.

Trends in the public’s mood

As 2026 dawned, 29% of U.S. adults said they were satisfied with how things were going in the country, while 69% were dissatisfied.

The number of people saying they are satisfied with how things are going has rebounded somewhat since a recent low point in the COVID-19 pandemic. But more Americans have expressed dissatisfaction than satisfaction with the country’s direction for more than two decades.

Similarly, over the past decade we’ve continually found that more Americans think their side has been losing, rather than winning, on the political issues that matter to them.

And in January 2026, the share of Americans saying they think the year ahead will be better than the previous year was lower than in any of our surveys dating back to 2020.

Signs of optimism

At the same time, about as many people say they are optimistic as say they are pessimistic when they think about the future of the United States.

And while many Americans say they feel scared or sad when they think about the future, substantial shares also say they feel hopeful and happy.

Looking ahead to 2050

In April 2026, we asked Americans to look ahead to the year 2050 and share their expectations about the country’s economic outlook, its place in the world and several other topics.

The public is divided over whether race relations will improve. Half of Americans say race relations will get better in the next 25 years, and roughly the same share say they will get worse.

On the other questions, we find more pessimists than optimists. Two-thirds of U.S. adults think that by 2050 the country will have become more politically divided. More than half say they think the U.S. will play a less important role in the world, be less prosperous, become a more dangerous place to live and have a worse system of government.

But the questions we can track over time indicate that the nation’s expectations for the future have improved in recent years. Since 2023, there has been a 13 percentage point rise in the share of Americans who say the U.S. will be more important in the world by 2050. There also has been a 12-point increase in the share saying the country will be less politically divided and an 11-point rise in the share who expect the economy to grow stronger.

(We did not ask the question about race relations in the 2023 survey, and we have never previously asked the questions about how government works or whether the U.S. will be a safer place to live in 2050.)

National mood linked with partisanship

The way people view the state of the nation is often linked with their political allegiances. Republicans and independents who lean toward the Republican Party tend to express very different views from Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, and this aligns with who is in the White House.

For instance, during both the first and second Trump administrations, more Republicans than Democrats have expressed satisfaction with the way things are going in the country. By contrast, during both the Obama and Biden administrations, more Democrats than Republicans were content with the country’s direction.

Looking back further, Republicans also expressed higher levels of satisfaction than Democrats during the George W. Bush administration, while Democrats were consistently more satisfied than Republicans during the Clinton administration.

People in both partisan coalitions also tend to express more optimism about the year ahead when their favored party controls the White House.

And Americans generally have been more inclined to say their side is “winning” on the political issues that matter to them when their party has the presidency than when the opposing party controls the White House.

The swings on this question are especially pronounced among Republicans. Just 15% of Republicans thought their side was winning more often than losing during the last year of the Biden administration, but this jumped to 60% following the first year of Trump’s second term. By comparison, fewer than half of Democrats have felt like their side is winning even during Democratic administrations.

But Republicans and Democrats express similar views on some questions. When asked to look ahead to 2050, most people in both parties think the country will be more politically divided than it is today. And roughly similar shares in both parties say they think the U.S. system of government will work worse than it does today.

Age gaps in the nation’s mood

When asked to look ahead to what things will be like in the U.S. in 2050, the nation’s youngest adults tend to express more pessimistic views than the country’s older adults.

For example, compared with people ages 65 and older, fewer adults under age 30 say race relations will improve, the government will work better or the economy will be stronger. Young adults are also less inclined than older people to say that overall, they are optimistic when they think ahead to 2050.

Looking ahead to 2050, the youngest adults tend to be less optimistic than the oldest adults

Looking ahead 25 years, % of U.S. adults who say that by 2050 …

	Ages 18-29	30-49	50-64	65+
Race relations will improve	43	47	50	58
They are very/somewhat optimistic	42	46	51	55
The U.S. system of government will work better	37	42	46	53
The U.S. economy will be stronger	36	41	45	50
The U.S. will be a safer place to live	37	39	42	48
The U.S. will be more important in the world	41	35	42	42
The country will be less politically divided	24	31	35	41

Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted April 6-12, 2026.

PEW RESEARCH CENTER

Looking ahead to 2050, the youngest adults tend to be less optimistic than the oldest adults

Looking ahead 25 years, % of U.S. adults who say that by 2050 …

	Ages 18-29	30-49	50-64	65+
Race relations will improve	43%	47%	50%	58%
They are very/somewhat optimistic	42%	46%	51%	55%
The U.S. system of government will work better	37%	42%	46%	53%
The U.S. economy will be stronger	36%	41%	45%	50%
The U.S. will be a safer place to live	37%	39%	42%	48%
The U.S. will be more important in the world	41%	35%	42%	42%
The country will be less politically divided	24%	31%	35%	41%

Download data as .csv

Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted April 6-12, 2026.

PEW RESEARCH CENTER

On a variety of other questions, though, the differences between age groups are muted. Young people are not substantially different from older adults in overall levels of satisfaction with how things are going in the country, for example. And people ages 18 to 29 express higher levels of happiness about the future than those 65 and older.

Adults under age 30 and those 65 and older express similar levels of satisfaction with how things are going in the country

% of U.S. adults who say …

	Ages 18-29	30-49	50-64	65+
They are satisfied with the way things are going in the country	28	27	33	31
The country’s best years are ahead of us	41	34	46	42
They are hopeful about the future	66	66	68	71
They are happy about the future	59	56	54	48
Their side is winning more than losing in politics	33	31	35	36
The year ahead will be better than last year	52	47	54	49

Source: Surveys of U.S. adults. Questions about satisfaction with the way things are going in the country, whether one’s side is winning in politics and outlook for the year ahead come from a survey conducted Jan. 20-26, 2026. Question about whether the country’s best years are behind us comes from a survey conducted Dec. 8-14, 2025. Questions about hope and happiness for the future come from a survey conducted July 8-Aug. 3, 2025.

PEW RESEARCH CENTER

Adults under age 30 and those 65 and older express similar levels of satisfaction with how things are going in the country

% of U.S. adults who say …

	Ages 18-29	30-49	50-64	65+
They are satisfied with the way things are going in the country	28%	27%	33%	31%
The country’s best years are ahead of us	41%	34%	46%	42%
They are hopeful about the future	66%	66%	68%	71%
They are happy about the future	59%	56%	54%	48%
Their side is winning more than losing in politics	33%	31%	35%	36%
The year ahead will be better than last year	52%	47%	54%	49%

Download data as .csv

PEW RESEARCH CENTER

	Satisfied	Dissatisfied
All in all, they are __ with the way things are going in this country today (Jan 2026)	29%	69%

	Ahead of us	Behind us
Thinking about the future of the U.S., they think the country’s best years are … (Dec 2025)	40%	59%

	The nation’s economy will be stronger than today	The nation will be less politically divided than today
04/2023	32%	21%
04/2026	43%	33%

	Rep/lean Rep	Dem/lean Dem
01/2026	54%	8%
01/2022	10%	29%

End Field Date	Satisfied	Dissatisfied
11/10/1991	34	61
1/6/1992	28	68
1/6/1993	39	50
5/27/1993	22	71
9/15/1993	20	75
10/15/1993	22	73
3/21/1994	24	71
7/27/1994	24	73
4/9/1995	23	74
6/11/1995	25	73
10/30/1995	23	73
3/31/1996	28	70
7/28/1996	29	67
1/12/1997	38	58
8/10/1997	49	46
9/11/1997	45	49
1/18/1998	46	50
2/2/1998	59	37
8/2/1998	50	44
8/24/1998	55	41
9/10/1998	54	42
11/19/1998	46	44
1/17/1999	53	41
9/9/1999	56	39
5/13/2000	48	43
6/28/2000	47	45
9/10/2000	51	41
1/7/2001	55	41
2/19/2001	46	43
3/18/2001	47	45
6/17/2001	43	52
9/4/2001	41	53
9/25/2001	57	34
3/10/2002	50	40
5/16/2002	44	44
8/25/2002	47	44
9/15/2002	41	55
11/10/2002	41	48
1/12/2003	44	50
4/16/2003	50	41
8/5/2003	40	53
10/20/2003	38	56
12/17/2003	44	47
1/15/2004	45	48
2/29/2004	39	55
5/9/2004	33	61
7/18/2004	38	55
10/15/2004	36	58
12/15/2004	39	54
1/9/2005	40	54
2/21/2005	38	56
5/28/2005	39	57
7/18/2005	35	58
10/10/2005	29	65
11/27/2005	34	59
1/8/2006	34	61
3/6/2006	32	63
5/15/2006	29	65
7/19/2006	30	65
10/4/2006	30	63
11/12/2006	28	64
12/10/2006	28	65
1/9/2007	30	63
1/15/2007	32	61
2/15/2007	30	61
10/23/2007	28	66
12/30/2007	27	66
2/2/2008	24	70
3/15/2008	22	72
5/25/2008	18	76
6/29/2008	19	76
7/27/2008	19	74
8/10/2008	21	74
9/14/2008	25	69
10/12/2008	11	86
12/8/2008	13	83
1/11/2009	20	73
4/21/2009	23	70
5/12/2009	34	58
6/14/2009	30	64
7/26/2009	28	66
8/17/2009	28	65
8/27/2009	28	65
9/15/2009	30	64
10/4/2009	25	67
11/8/2009	25	67
1/10/2010	27	69
2/9/2010	23	71
3/14/2010	23	71
3/21/2010	25	69
4/5/2010	31	63
4/26/2010	29	66
5/16/2010	28	64
6/27/2010	27	64
9/6/2010	25	71
9/26/2010	30	63
11/7/2010	23	69
12/5/2010	21	72
1/9/2011	23	71
2/7/2011	26	68
3/14/2011	22	73
5/2/2011	32	60
5/8/2011	30	62
6/19/2011	23	73
7/24/2011	17	79
8/21/2011	17	79
10/4/2011	17	78
1/16/2012	21	75
2/12/2012	28	66
4/15/2012	24	69
6/3/2012	29	64
6/17/2012	28	68
7/9/2012	31	64
10/21/2012	32	61
12/9/2012	33	62
12/19/2012	25	68
1/13/2013	30	66
2/18/2013	31	64
5/5/2013	30	65
7/21/2013	27	67
10/13/2013	14	81
11/6/2013	21	75
1/19/2014	26	69
2/26/2014	28	66
4/27/2014	29	65
7/14/2014	29	68
8/24/2014	24	72
9/9/2014	25	71
10/20/2014	29	65
11/9/2014	27	68
12/7/2014	26	71
1/11/2015	31	66
2/22/2015	33	62
3/29/2015	31	64
5/18/2015	29	67
7/20/2015	31	64
9/27/2015	27	69
10/4/2015	27	67
12/13/2015	25	72
1/14/2016	25	70
3/26/2016	31	65
4/19/2016	26	70
6/26/2016	24	71
8/16/2016	31	66
10/25/2016	33	63
12/5/2016	30	65
1/9/2017	28	68
2/12/2017	30	65
4/11/2017	30	66
7/9/2017	28	67
10/30/2017	26	70
12/4/2017	27	68
1/15/2018	32	62
3/14/2018	30	66
5/1/2018	33	62
6/12/2018	34	61
9/24/2018	33	61
8/4/2019	27	72
10/13/2019	28	71
11/11/2019	31	69
3/24/2020	33	66
4/12/2020	31	68
6/22/2020	12	87
8/2/2020	12	87
10/5/2020	18	82
11/17/2020	22	77
3/7/2021	33	66
9/19/2021	26	74
9/26/2021	25	74
1/17/2022	21	78
5/1/2022	24	75
8/14/2022	18	81
10/16/2022	21	79
11/27/2022	24	75
1/24/2023	22	78
4/2/2023	19	80
6/11/2023	21	78
7/16/2023	22	77
12/3/2023	22	77
1/21/2024	21	78
5/19/2024	22	78
7/7/2024	18	82
8/11/2024	24	75
10/6/2024	23	76
11/17/2024	29	70
2/2/2025	38	61
3/16/2025	34	65
5/4/2025	32	67
8/10/2025	34	65
10/16/2025	27	72
1/26/2026	29	69

	Rep/lean Rep	Dem/lean Dem
2016	22%	47%
2018	44%	20%
2019	54%	19%
2020	69%	18%
2021	22%	36%
2022	17%	31%
2024	15%	36%
2026	60%	10%

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On the Country’s 250th Anniversary, the American People Are in a Sour Mood

But there are some signs of optimism about the future

Why did we do this?

How did we do this?

Trends in the public’s mood

Signs of optimism

Looking ahead to 2050

National mood linked with partisanship

Age gaps in the nation’s mood

Most Popular

Report Materials

Table of Contents

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Question	Yes	No
When you think about the future, do you feel hopeful?	68%	31%
When you think about the future, do you feel happy?	54%	43%
Thinking about the future of the U.S., would you say you are …	48%	51%

Race relations will improve	Race relations will get worse
50%	48%

The U.S. system of government will work better than today	The U.S. system of government will work worse than today
45%	54%

The U.S. economy will be stronger	The U.S. economy will be weaker
43%	55%

The U.S. will be a safer place to live	The U.S. will be a more dangerous place to live
41%	56%

The U.S. will be more important in the world	The U.S. will be less important in the world
40%	58%

The country will be less politically divided	The country will be more politically divided
33%	66%

End field date	Rep/lean Rep	Dem/lean Dem
11/10/91	47	22
1/6/92	43	14
1/6/93	42	38
5/27/93	16	30
9/15/93	14	27
10/15/93	—	—
3/21/94	14	34
7/27/94	19	29
4/9/95	21	27
6/11/95	23	29
10/30/95	20	28
3/31/96	24	32
7/28/96	22	37
1/12/97	32	46
8/10/97	46	56
9/11/97	35	56
1/18/98	41	51
2/2/98	—	—
8/2/98	43	59
8/24/98	47	64
9/10/98	44	64
11/19/98	40	53
1/17/99	47	58
9/9/99	—	—
5/13/00	—	—
6/28/00	40	55
9/10/00	43	60
1/7/01	47	63
2/19/01	54	42
3/18/01	54	42
6/17/01	56	35
9/4/01	57	31
9/25/01	68	49
3/10/02	62	42
5/16/02	53	39
8/25/02	—	—
9/15/02	—	—
11/10/02	56	29
1/12/03	—	—
4/16/03	74	34
8/5/03	61	26
10/20/03	55	23
12/17/03	69	25
1/15/04	—	—
2/29/04	60	21
5/9/04	56	16
7/18/04	64	19
10/15/04	—	—
12/15/04	65	16
1/9/05	66	17
2/21/05	63	18
5/28/05	—	—
7/18/05	58	17
10/10/05	52	14
11/27/05	—	—
1/8/06	59	17
3/6/06	58	14
5/15/06	—	—
7/19/06	50	15
10/4/06	56	11
11/12/06	49	17
12/10/06	50	14
1/9/07	53	15
1/15/07	56	17
2/15/07	—	—
10/23/07	43	20
12/30/07	42	17
2/2/08	36	16
3/15/08	—	—
5/25/08	28	10
6/29/08	29	12
7/27/08	29	13
8/10/08	29	15
9/14/08	40	14
10/12/08	18	6
12/8/08	17	11
1/11/09	23	16
4/21/09	13	31
5/12/09	20	43
6/14/09	18	40
7/26/09	17	40
8/17/09	16	41
8/27/09	14	43
9/15/09	19	41
10/4/09	12	37
11/8/09	17	34
1/10/10	14	40
2/9/10	13	32
3/14/10	12	33
3/21/10	16	34
4/5/10	—	—
4/26/10	15	43
5/16/10	—	—
6/27/10	—	—
9/6/10	13	35
9/26/10	—	—
11/7/10	13	33
12/5/10	11	26
1/9/11	15	31
2/7/11	14	38
3/14/11	15	28
5/2/11	—	—
5/8/11	—	—
6/19/11	14	32
7/24/11	8	25
8/21/11	13	20
10/4/11	9	25
1/16/12	12	31
2/12/12	11	42
4/15/12	13	34
6/3/12	13	44
6/17/12	15	39
7/9/12	15	44
10/21/12	—	—
12/9/12	13	48
12/19/12	—	—
1/13/13	13	44
2/18/13	13	47
5/5/13	18	40
7/21/13	14	39
10/13/13	7	20
11/6/13	—	—
1/19/14	16	37
2/26/14	17	38
4/27/14	15	43
7/14/14	13	43
8/24/14	—	—
9/9/14	11	38
10/20/14	15	40
11/9/14	15	40
12/7/14	12	38
1/11/15	13	47
2/22/15	15	51
3/29/15	15	45
5/18/15	15	41
7/20/15	14	46
9/27/15	12	41
10/4/15	15	41
12/13/15	15	36
1/14/16	10	42
3/26/16	13	46
4/19/16	13	40
6/26/16	8	38
8/16/16	12	49
10/25/16	11	52
12/5/16	21	37
1/9/17	24	33
2/12/17	49	16
4/11/17	49	16
7/9/17	49	11
10/30/17	43	14
12/4/17	49	15
1/15/18	59	14
3/14/18	53	9
5/1/18	57	15
6/12/18	60	15
9/24/18	59	14
8/4/19	50	9
10/13/19	46	12
11/11/19	49	16
3/24/20	58	12
4/12/20	55	10
6/22/20	19	7
8/2/20	18	7
10/5/20	30	7
11/17/20	23	22
3/7/21	17	47
9/19/21	12	38
9/26/21	10	38
1/17/22	10	29
5/1/22	10	35
8/14/22	10	24
10/16/22	9	31
11/27/22	10	39
1/24/23	11	32
4/2/23	9	29
6/11/23	11	32
7/16/23	10	35
12/3/23	11	35
1/21/24	10	32
5/19/24	10	34
7/7/24	8	27
8/11/24	10	39
10/6/24	10	38
11/17/24	35	24
2/2/25	65	12
3/16/25	60	9
5/4/25	58	8
8/10/25	60	11
10/16/25	48	8
1/26/26	54	8

On the Country’s 250th Anniversary, the American People Are in a Sour Mood

But there are some signs of optimism about the future

Why did we do this?

How did we do this?

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Trends in the public’s mood

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Signs of optimism

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Looking ahead to 2050

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National mood linked with partisanship

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Age gaps in the nation’s mood

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