In this 2018 survey, eight percent of respondents stated they think the biggest problem for the United States today is Donald Trump. In fact, most of the important problems mentioned are somehow related to the current POTUS – the most mentioned one being immigration and racism.

A country divided

Since Trump’s inauguration in January 2017, political camps in the United States are deeply divided and global politics is in turmoil; Trump’s job approval ratings are notoriously low, and in fact, they are lower than Reagan’s or Nixon’s averages ever were. Trump’s leadership is controversial at best and his executive orders often cause protests, especially among Democrats and liberals – like the travel ban for Muslims.

On the other side

One of Trump’s main campaign promises was a wall on the border with Mexico in order to keep potential illegal immigrants out and enhance security for American citizens. When he did not get the majority for this plan, he declared a national emergency to force the budget to be allocated, even though the majority of Americans did not support this idea, and it is unclear if the situation at the Mexican border actually warrants it. In fact, the total number of unauthorized immigrants has decreased over the last few years and today, many Americans believe that their country benefits from immigrants and their work .

In December 2024, 11 percent of survey respondents said that the most important problem facing the United States was the high cost of living and inflation. Another 20percent said that the government and poor leadership was the most serious concern for the nation.

A 2024 survey found that over half of U.S. individuals indicated the cost of accessing treatment was the biggest problem facing the national healthcare system. This is much higher than the global average of 32 percent and is in line with the high cost of health care in the U.S. compared to other high-income countries. Bureaucracy along with a lack of staff were also considered to be pressing issues. This statistic reveals the share of individuals who said select problems were the biggest facing the health care system in the United States in 2024.

A survey conducted in February 2025 found that the most important issue for 24 percent of Americans was inflation and prices. A further 12 percent of respondents were most concerned about jobs and the economy.

According to a 2023 survey, young adults in the United States were divided when it came to important political issues. However, more than half of Americans between 18 and 34 considered the cost of living and inflation the most important political issue.

According to the data from January 2024, 22 percent of respondents said that rising health care costs were the most important health issue facing the United States. Mental health ranked second on the list with 15 percent. Issues with healthcare costsCurrently, the most urgent problem facing American healthcare is the high costs of care. The high expense of healthcare may deter people from getting the appropriate treatment when they need medical care or cause them to completely forego preventative care visits. Many Americans reported that they may skip prescription doses or refrain from taking medication as prescribed due to financial concerns. Such health-related behavior can result in major health problems, which may raise the long-term cost of care. Inflation, medical debt, and unforeseen medical expenses have all added to the burden that health costs are placing on household income. Gun violence issueThe gun violence epidemic has plagued the United States over the past few years, yet very little has been done to address the issue. In recent years, gun violence has become the leading cause of death among American children and teens. Even though more than half of Americans are in favor of tougher gun control regulations, there is little political will to strongly reform the current gun law. Gun violence has a deep traumatic impact on survivors and society, it is developing into a major public health crisis in the United States.

This statistic shows the results of a 2012 survey in the United States regarding the most important problems in the current U.S. economy. The respondents were sorted by political party. In 2012, 27 percent of democrats, 38 percent of republicans and 30 percent of independent voters stated that the economy in general was the most crucial problem for the United States.

In a survey conducted in 2022, 64 percent of the opinion leaders and prominent journalists surveyed in Latin America said that job creation and economic growth was the most important problem Latin America would face in the incoming 18 months. The second main issue according to these experts was inflation and economic instability.

According to a survey from late December 2024, the two most important issues among Republican voters in the United States were inflation and immigration, with 25 and 22 percent ranking it their primary political concerns respectively. In contrast, only two percent of Democrats considered immigration their most important issue. Inflation and healthcare were the leading issues among democrats in the U.S.

Inflation was the most worrying topic worldwide as of January 2025, with one third of the respondents choosing that option. Crime and violence as well as poverty and social inequality followed behind. Moreover, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the war in Gaza, nine percent of the respondents were worried about military conflict between nations. Only four percent were worried about the COVID-19 pandemic, which dominated the world after its outbreak in 2020. Global inflation and rising prices Inflation rates have spiked substantially since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. From 2020 to 2021, the worldwide inflation rate increased from 3.5 percent to 4.7 percent, and from 2021 to 2022, the rate increased sharply from 4.7 percent to 8.7 percent. While rates are predicted to fall come 2025, many are continuing to struggle with price increases on basic necessities. Poverty and global development Poverty and social inequality was the third most worrying issue to respondents. While poverty and inequality are still prominent, global poverty rates have been on a steady decline over the years. In 1994, 64 percent of people in low-income countries and around one percent of people in high-income countries lived on less than 2.15 U.S. dollars per day. By 2018, this had fallen to almost 44 percent of people in low-income countries and 0.6 percent in high-income countries. Moreover, fewer people globally are dying of preventable diseases and people are living longer lives. Despite these aspects, issues such as wealth inequality have global prominence.

Aging water and wastewater infrastructure continues to be major issue in the U.S. water, wastewater, and stormwater industry. In a 2024 survey with more than 600 U.S. water industry stakeholders, 65 percent said aging infrastructure was the most challenging issue facing the sector.

During a survey on small businesses in the U.S. in August 2024, about 21 percent of the respondents stated that the most important problem for small businesses was quality of labor. Additionally, around 24 percent of survey participants said that inflation was the most important problem for their business, a slight increase from August 2023, when inflation was the biggest concern for 23 percent of businesses.

During a July 2024 survey fielded in 10 Central and South American countries, approximately 29 percent of responding exhibition companies said they viewed the state of the economy in their home markets as the industry's most important issue. Internal management challenges and competition from within the exhibition industry followed, mentioned by 17 and 12 percent of respondents, respectively. Meanwhile, in North America, the leading challenges of the Mexican exhibition industry also included the state of Mexico's economy and internal management-related obstacles.

As of June 2020, 76 percent of Democratic respondents thought the way racial and ethnic minorities are treated by the criminal justice system is a very big problem in the United States today. This is compared to 20 percent of Republican respondents who thought it was a very a big problem.

Subcontractor delays were the number one challenge for one third of respondents, according to a 2023 survey among home builders in the United States. Client selections decisions emerged as the second-biggest issue, according to almost 20 percent of the respondents.

During a September 2024 survey carried out among digital media buyers from brands, agencies, and adtech from the United States, 30 percent named advertising fraud as one of the top four digital media challenges their organization would face in the upcoming 12 months; 24 percent of interviewees said that advertising adjacent to deep fakes would be one of the leading challenges.

How big of a problem is food waste in the United States? One thousand United States adult citizens responded to this question. Around 60 percent of those surveyed said it is "a very big problem." Notably, ten percent of respondents were unsure if food waste is a big problem.

In 2024, when asked about the main challenges related to artificial intelligence (AI) they expected or faced, nearly 40 percent of respondents among IT professionals in the United States mentioned cybersecurity or privacy concerns. In addition, 35 percent of respondents highlighted the cost of new applications. Identifying AI use cases and balancing AI and human efforts were both mentioned by one-third of respondents.

According to a recent survey conducted in 17 Latin American countries, the main problem was the economy, including economic and financial problems. Unemployment ranked second, with 13.4 percent of the respondents, and crime and public security issues came close in third, with 13.2 percent.

As of August 2024, some 20 percent of Americans surveyed were of the opinion that opioids and fentanyl addiction is the number one public health threat in the U.S., a significant decrease from 24 percent in June 2024. Furthermore, obesity was viewed as a top public health issue by 19 percent of Americans in August 2024.
U.S. healthcare issues The United States has the highest healthcare spending globally. The majority of Americans considered rising healthcare costs as the most important healthcare problem facing the U.S. in January 2023. While COVID-19 and cancer were ranked second on the list. Due to unfortunate mass shooting incidents in the country, gun violence is typically related to homicide and is not considered a healthcare issue. Although the most popular method of suicide among Americans who attempted it was a gun or firearm, the link between gun access and suicide is frequently ignored as a public health crisis.