17%
2025 (latest)
TRUST IN GOVERNMENT
percent trusting the federal government · 1958–2025 · higher is better · Pew Research Center, Public Trust in Government 1958-2025
73%
1958
77%
high · 1964
16%
low · 2023
−56 pts
since 1958
┊ 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
Method & caveats. Percent saying they trust the federal government to do what is right just about always or most of the time. Pew's long series stitches its own surveys to ANES, Gallup, CBS/NYT, and others; years with no survey are absent rather than interpolated. Read from Pew's published series 2026-08-18; there is no machine-readable endpoint, so these values are checked in and re-verified on each data refresh.
Sources
Every value on this page is read from the publisher below. Current and historical source documents:
- https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2024/06/24/public-trust-in-government-1958-2024/
- https://github.com/danielmiessler/substrate/tree/main/Data/US-Long-Run-Indicators
Data
| Year | Trust in Government | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 17% | −5.0 pts |
| 2024 | 22% | +6.0 pts |
| 2023 | 16% | −4.0 pts |
| 2022 | 20% | −4.0 pts |
| 2021 | 24% | −3.0 pts |
| 2020 | 27% | +10 pts |
| 2019 | 17% | −3.0 pts |
| 2017 | 20% | +1.0 pts |
| 2015 | 19% | −5.0 pts |
| 2014 | 24% | +4.0 pts |
| 2013 | 20% | −2.0 pts |
| 2012 | 22% | +2.0 pts |
| 2011 | 20% | −5.0 pts |
| 2010 | 25% | −1.0 pts |
| 2009 | 26% | −5.0 pts |
| 2008 | 31% | +0.0 pts |
| 2007 | 31% | −3.0 pts |
| 2006 | 34% | +2.0 pts |
| 2005 | 32% | −14 pts |
| 2004 | 46% | +9.0 pts |
| 2003 | 37% | −18 pts |
| 2002 | 55% | +0.0 pts |
| 2001 | 55% | +11 pts |
| 2000 | 44% | +6.0 pts |
| 1999 | 38% | −2.0 pts |
| 1998 | 40% | +1.0 pts |
| 1997 | 39% | +6.0 pts |
| 1996 | 33% | +11 pts |
| 1995 | 22% | −2.0 pts |
| 1994 | 24% | −4.0 pts |
| 1993 | 28% | −1.0 pts |
| 1992 | 29% | −18 pts |
| 1991 | 47% | +5.0 pts |
| 1990 | 42% | −2.0 pts |
| 1989 | 44% | +3.0 pts |
| 1988 | 41% | −1.0 pts |
| 1987 | 42% | −7.0 pts |
| 1986 | 49% | +3.0 pts |
| 1985 | 46% | +2.0 pts |
| 1984 | 44% | +11 pts |
| 1982 | 33% | +7.0 pts |
| 1980 | 26% | −4.0 pts |
| 1979 | 30% | +1.0 pts |
| 1978 | 29% | −6.0 pts |
| 1977 | 35% | +2.0 pts |
| 1976 | 33% | −3.0 pts |
| 1974 | 36% | −17 pts |
| 1972 | 53% | −1.0 pts |
| 1970 | 54% | −8.0 pts |
| 1968 | 62% | −3.0 pts |
| 1966 | 65% | −12 pts |
| 1964 | 77% | +4.0 pts |
| 1958 | 73% | — |
Also in Trust & Institutions