TRUST & INSTITUTIONS

15 indicators · 1958–2026 · every value from its primary publisher

┊ dashed lines mark 1979 Oil shock & inflation peak · 1987 Black Monday crash · 1991 Gulf War recession · 2001 Dot-com bust & 9/11 · 2008 Global financial crisis · 2020 COVID-19 pandemic

Trust in Governmentpercent trusting the federal government · Pew Research Center, Public Trust in Government 1958-2025

17%2025

−16 pts since 1976
33% then

Trust in Mass Mediapercent with a great deal or fair amount of trust · Gallup, Media Use and Evaluation

28%2025

−44 pts since 1976
72% then

Most People Can Be Trustedpercent saying most people can be trusted · 1976–2024 · NORC General Social Survey (cumulative file 1972–2024)

24.8%2024

−18 pts since 1976
43% then

Confidence in Congresspercent with a great deal or quite a lot of confidence · Gallup, Confidence in Institutions

9%2026

−31 pts since 1977
40% then

Confidence in the Presidencypercent with a great deal or quite a lot of confidence · 1991–2026 · Gallup, Confidence in Institutions

27%2026

−23 pts since 1991
50% then

Confidence in the Supreme Courtpercent with a great deal or quite a lot of confidence · Gallup, Confidence in Institutions

27%2026

−18 pts since 1977
45% then

Confidence in the Policepercent with a great deal or quite a lot of confidence · 1993–2026 · Gallup, Confidence in Institutions

45%2026

−7.0 pts since 1993
52% then

Confidence in the Militarypercent with a great deal or quite a lot of confidence · Gallup, Confidence in Institutions

61%2026

+4.0 pts since 1977
57% then

Confidence in Public Schoolspercent with a great deal or quite a lot of confidence · Gallup, Confidence in Institutions

27%2026

−26 pts since 1977
53% then

Confidence in Educationpercent with a great deal of confidence in the people running education · 1976–2024 · NORC General Social Survey (cumulative file 1972–2024)

19.8%2024

−19 pts since 1976
38.4% then

Confidence in Sciencepercent with a great deal of confidence in the scientific community · 1976–2024 · NORC General Social Survey (cumulative file 1972–2024)

36.3%2024

−12 pts since 1976
47.9% then

Confidence in the Medical Systempercent with a great deal or quite a lot of confidence · Gallup, Confidence in Institutions

28%2026

−46 pts since 1977
74% then

Confidence in Big Businesspercent with a great deal or quite a lot of confidence · Gallup, Confidence in Institutions

17%2026

−15 pts since 1977
32% then

Confidence in Bankspercent with a great deal or quite a lot of confidence · 1979–2026 · Gallup, Confidence in Institutions

28%2026

−32 pts since 1979
60% then

Confidence in Organized Religionpercent with a great deal or quite a lot of confidence · Gallup, Confidence in Institutions

33%2026

−31 pts since 1977
64% then

Data

Complete year-by-year values, raw numbers in the unit in each column header. Machine-readable: stats.json · stats.csv.

Year	Trust in Governmentpercent trusting the federal government · 1958–2025	Trust in Mass Mediapercent with a great deal or fair amount of trust · 1972–2025	Most People Can Be Trustedpercent saying most people can be trusted · 1972–2024	Confidence in Congresspercent with a great deal or quite a lot of confidence · 1973–2026	Confidence in the Presidencypercent with a great deal or quite a lot of confidence · 1975–2026	Confidence in the Supreme Courtpercent with a great deal or quite a lot of confidence · 1973–2026	Confidence in the Policepercent with a great deal or quite a lot of confidence · 1993–2026	Confidence in the Militarypercent with a great deal or quite a lot of confidence · 1975–2026	Confidence in Public Schoolspercent with a great deal or quite a lot of confidence · 1973–2026	Confidence in Educationpercent with a great deal of confidence in the people running education · 1973–2024	Confidence in Sciencepercent with a great deal of confidence in the scientific community · 1973–2024	Confidence in the Medical Systempercent with a great deal or quite a lot of confidence · 1975–2026	Confidence in Big Businesspercent with a great deal or quite a lot of confidence · 1973–2026	Confidence in Bankspercent with a great deal or quite a lot of confidence · 1979–2026	Confidence in Organized Religionpercent with a great deal or quite a lot of confidence · 1973–2026
1958	73
1964	77
1966	65
1968	62
1970	54
1972	53	68	46.6
1973			47.2	42		45			58	37.2	41.1		26		65
1974	36	69								49.7	50.6
1975			40	40	52	49		58	62	31.7	42	80	34		68
1976	33	72	43							38.4	47.9
1977	35			40		45		57	53	40.3	44.2	74	32		64
1978	29		38.4							28.8	40.8
1979	30			34		45		54	53				32	60	65
1980	26		42.7							30.1	44.4
1981				29		46		50	42				20	47	64
1982	33									34	43.3
1983			34.9	28		42		53	39	29.6	44.9		28	51	62
1984	44		49.2	29		51		58	48	29	49.9		29	51	64
1985	46			39		56		61	48				32	51	66
1986	49		37.4	41		54		63	49	28.6	42.9		28	49	57
1987	42		43.1			52		61	50	34.1	47.8			51	61
1988	41		39.5	35		56		58	49	30.3	43.2		25	49	59
1989	44		40.1	32		46		63	43	30.6	45.2			42	52
1990	42		37.6	24		47		68	45	27.2	42.2		25	36	56
1991	47		38.1	18	50	39		69	35	30.9	43.8		22	29	56
1992	29
1993	28		33.6	18	43	43	52	67	39	22.7	40.4	34	23	37	53
1994	24		33.5	18	38	42	54	64	34	26.5	41.1	36	26	35	54
1995	22			21	45	44	58	64	40			41	21	43	57
1996	33		32.9	20	39	45	60	66	38	24	43.3	42	24	44	57
1997	39	53		22	49	50	59	60	40			38	28	41	56
1998	40	55	36.7	28	53	50	58	64	37	27.4	43.9	40	30	40	59
1999	38	55		26	49	49	57	68	36			40	30	43	58
2000	44	51	35.1	24	42	47	54	64	37	27.7	45.3	40	29	46	56
2001	55	53		26	48	50	57	66	38			40	28	44	60
2002	55	54	33.8	29	58	50	59	79	38	26.8	40.5	38	20	47	45
2003	37	54		29	55	47	61	82	40			44	22	50	50
2004	46	44	33.9	30	52	46	64	75	41	29.2	42.6	44	24	53	53
2005	32	50		22	44	41	63	74	37			42	22	49	53
2006	34		32.5	19	33	40	58	73	37	28.6	44.1	38	18	49	52
2007	31	47		14	25	34	54	69	33			31	18	41	46
2008	31	43	32.2	12	26	32	58	71	33	29.9	40.2	35	20	32	48
2009	26	45		17	51	39	59	82	38			36	16	22	52
2010	25	43	32.1	11	36	36	59	76	34	28.5	42.9	40	19	23	48
2011	20	44		12	35	37	56	78	34			39	19	23	48
2012	22	40	31.8	13	37	37	56	75	29	25.4	42.3	41	21	21	44
2013	20	44		10	36	34	57	76	32			35	22	26	48
2014	24	40	29.6	7	29	30	53	74	26	25.5	43	34	21	26	45
2015	19	40		8	33	32	52	72	31			37	21	28	42
2016		32	31.9	9	36	36	56	73	30	26.3	43.6	39	18	27	41
2017	20	41		12	32	40	57	72	36			37	21	32	41
2018		45	33.8	11	37	37	54	74	29	25.2	47.6	36	25	30	38
2019	17	41		11	38	38	53	73	29			36	23	30	36
2020	27	40		13	39	40	48	72	41			51	19	38	42
2021	24	36		12	38	36	51	69	32	17.8	47.9	44	18	33	37
2022	20	34	26.2	7	23	25	45	64	28	18.8	39	38	14	27	31
2023	16	32		8	26	27	43	60	26			34	14	26	32
2024	22	31	24.8	9	26	30	51	61	29	19.8	36.3	36	16	27	32
2025	17	28		10	30	27	45	62	29			32	15	30	36
2026				9	27	27	45	61	27			28	17	28	33

Sources