If it's in the News, it's in our Polls. Public opinion polling since 2003.

ARCHIVE

30% Say U.S. Heading in Right Direction

Thirty percent (30%) of Likely U.S. Voters think the country is heading in the right direction, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey for the week ending January 18. 

This finding is unchanged from the week before. The number of voters who think the country is heading in the right direction was below 30% most weeks last year.

Sixty percent (60%) of voters now believe the nation is headed down the wrong track, down one point from last week.

A year ago at this time, 30% said the country was heading in the right direction, while 62% thought it was headed down the wrong track. 

(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
       
 The national telephone survey of 2,800 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports from January 12-18, 2015. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 2 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Fifty-two percent (52%) of Democrats say the country is headed in the right direction. Eighty-six percent (86%) of Republicans and 64% of voters not affiliated with either major political party think the country is on the wrong track. 

Forty-nine percent (49%) of black voters say the country is headed in the right direction, but 66% of white voters and 48% of other minority voters disagree.

Voters 40 and over are more pessimistic about the direction of the country than younger voters are. 

Veterans are more likely to say the country is headed down the wrong track than those who have never served.

Most voters suspect that President Obama’s proposed tax increase on the wealthiest Americans will lead to more taxes on the middle class as well.

Confidence in the housing market is now at its highest level since early 2009 and most homeowners are confident their homes have increased in value since when they first bought it.

Americans are also starting 2015 off with their most positive view of the country’s banking system since before the Wall Street meltdown.

It’s been a difficult year for race relations in the United States, but most Americans still think they can talk honestly about race with each other.

Crosstabs and historical data are available to Platinum Members only.

Please sign up for the Rasmussen Reports daily e-mail update (it’s free) or follow us on Twitter or Facebook. Let us keep you up to date with the latest public opinion news.

The national telephone survey of 2,800 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports from January 12-18, 2015. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 2 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Rasmussen Reports is a media company specializing in the collection, publication and distribution of public opinion information.

We conduct public opinion polls on a variety of topics to inform our audience on events in the news and other topics of interest. To ensure editorial control and independence, we pay for the polls ourselves and generate revenue through the sale of subscriptions, sponsorships, and advertising. Nightly polling on politics, business and lifestyle topics provides the content to update the Rasmussen Reports web site many times each day. If it's in the news, it's in our polls. Additionally, the data drives a daily update newsletter and various media outlets across the country.

Some information, including the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll and commentaries are available for free to the general public. Subscriptions are available for $4.95 a month or 34.95 a year that provide subscribers with exclusive access to more than 20 stories per week on upcoming elections, consumer confidence, and issues that affect us all. For those who are really into the numbers, Platinum Members can review demographic crosstabs and a full history of our data.

To learn more about our methodology, click here.