In August 2025, nine percent of survey respondents said that the most important problem facing the United States was the high cost of living and inflation. Another 24 percent said that the government and poor leadership was the most serious concern for the nation.

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 .

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.

According to the data from 2025, some 16 percent of respondents said that rising health care costs were the most important health issue facing the United States. Cancer 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.

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

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.

In 2024, ** percent of healthcare organizations in the United States surveyed reported risk concerns and considerations to be the greatest challenge for their organization in pursuing generative AI. Furthermore, approximately ** percent of respondents believed that lack of capabilities in their organization was a large challenge for implementing generative AI technologies.

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.

Subcontractor delays were the number one challenge for ********* 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 ** percent of the respondents.

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 *** U.S. water industry stakeholders, ** percent said aging infrastructure was the most challenging issue facing the sector.

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

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 ** and ** considered the cost of living and inflation the most important political issue.

According to a 2024 survey just after the 2024 election, young adults in the United States were divided when it came to important political issues such as border security, gun violence prevention, and addressing climate change. However, the majority of young Americans considered the cost of living and inflation a top political issue, regardless of their race and ethnicity.

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

As of June 2025, some 15 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 slight increase from 12 percent in February 2025. Furthermore, obesity was viewed as a top public health issue by 22 percent of Americans in June 2025.
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.

In retail companies based in the United States, ** percent of CEOs taking part to a survey believed data security and privacy was the biggest challenges in implementing AI-based solutions in their companies. Managers and employees were even more concerned by this aspect (** percent). However, another ** percent of employees mentioned the lack of awareness, understanding, and/or expertise in using AI tools as a key challenge.

According to a survey conducted in the U.S. in 2020, ** percent of physicians surveyed reported that explaining to their patients how to use telehealth was the biggest challenge they faced while using the technology. A further ** percent mentioned that internet connection/ bandwidth issues was a challenge when using telehealth.

In 2023, rising operating expenses was the largest concern among nonprofit organizations in the United States, with about 46.48 percent of surveyed nonprofits considering it their greatest challenge. Additionally, 36.97 percent of organizations cited limited staffing capacity as a significant organizational challenge.

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 ** and ** percent ranking it their primary political concerns respectively. In contrast, only *** percent of Democrats considered immigration their most important issue. Inflation and healthcare were the leading issues among democrats in the U.S.

When asked about the main complications with regard to cybersecurity initiatives, around ** percent of organizations in North America in 2024 pointed out cybersecurity skill gaps. Lack of budget and prioritization of other technology was considered another key challenge for ** percent of tech and business professionals.