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.

This study is part of a quadrennial series designed to investigate the opinions and attitudes of the general public on matters related to foreign policy, and to define the parameters of public opinion within which decision-makers must operate. This public opinion study of the United States focused on respondents' opinions of the United States' leadership role in the world and the challenges the country faces domestically and internationally. The survey covered the following international topics: relations with other countries, role in foreign affairs, possible threats to vital interests in the next ten years, foreign policy goals, benefits or drawbacks of globalization, situations that might justify the use of United States troops in other parts of the world, the number and location of United States military bases overseas, respondent feelings toward people of other countries, opinions on the influence of other countries in the world and how much influence those countries should have, whether there should be a global regulating body to prevent economic instability, international trade, United States participation in potential treaties, the United States' role in the United Nations and NATO, respondent opinions on international institutions and regulating bodies such as the United Nations, World Trade Organization, and the World Health Organization, whether the United States will continue to be the world's leading power in the next 50 years, democracy in the Middle East and South Korea, the role of the United Nations Security Council, which side the United States should take in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, what measures should be taken to deal with Iran's nuclear program, the military effort in Afghanistan, opinions on efforts to combat terrorism and the use of torture to extract information from prisoners, whether the respondent favors or opposes the government selling military equipment to other nations and using nuclear weapons in various circumstances, the economic development of China, and the conflict between North and South Korea. Domestic issues included economic prospects for American children when they become adults, funding for government programs, the fairness of the current distribution of income in the United States, the role of government, whether the government can be trusted to do what is right, climate change, greenhouse gas emissions, United States' dependence on foreign energy sources, drilling for oil and natural gas off the coast of the United States, and relations with Mexico including such issues as the ongoing drug war, as well as immigration and immigration reform. Demographic and other background information included age, gender, race/ethnicity, marital status, left-right political self-placement, political affiliation, employment status, highest level of education, and religious preference. Also included are household size and composition, whether the respondent is head of household, household income, housing type, ownership status of living quarters, household Internet access, Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) status, and region and state of residence.

A survey conducted in February 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.

In 1957, the United States Congress established the Joint Commission on Mental Illness and Health to evaluate the nation's resources for coping with both the psychological and economic problems of mental illness. The Commission sponsored a nationwide survey, which was conducted by the Survey Research Center at the University of Michigan, to assess the subjective mental health of "normal" American adults and to determine in detail how they coped with problems of adjustment. During the spring of 1957, a sample of American adults was interviewed on various areas in which problems might arise, including marriage, parenthood, employment, and general social relationships. Information about leisure time, past and present physical and mental health, and motives for affiliation, achievement, and power were also sought. Three questionnaire forms were employed, each addressed to a randomly selected third of the sample.

As of January 2025, approximately 24 percent of exhibition companies surveyed in eight Central and South American countries reported viewing the state of the economy in their home market as the industry's most important issue over the following 12 to 18 months. Internal management challenges ranked second, selected by 13 percent of respondents.

This study was a joint project of ten major United States cities participating in the Urban Observatory Program: Atlanta, Albuquerque, Baltimore, Boston, Denver, Kansas City, Kansas, Kansas City, Missouri, Milwaukee, Nashville, and San Diego. The survey focused on citizens' perceptions of the problems of urban life. Citizens' attitudes toward local government services and their opinions about local problems in the areas of schooling, housing, public transportation, controlled drugs, law and order, and taxes were assessed in all ten cities. Information on the socioeconomic status of the respondents, and on household composition was also elicited. Demographic data include sex, age, marital status, race, ethnicity, birthplace, level of education, and family income. Each city may be analyzed separately or may be treated as an integral part of the comparative study.

United States SBOI: sa: Most Pressing Problem: A Year Ago: Others data was reported at 5.000 % in Mar 2025. This records a decrease from the previous number of 6.000 % for Feb 2025. United States SBOI: sa: Most Pressing Problem: A Year Ago: Others data is updated monthly, averaging 7.000 % from Jan 2014 (Median) to Mar 2025, with 131 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 11.000 % in May 2023 and a record low of 3.000 % in Jul 2024. United States SBOI: sa: Most Pressing Problem: A Year Ago: Others data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Federation of Independent Business. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.S042: NFIB Index of Small Business Optimism. [COVID-19-IMPACT]

According to a 2023 survey, 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.

This study is part of a quadrennial series designed to investigate the opinions and attitudes of both the general public and a select group of opinion leaders (or elites) on matters relating to foreign policy, and to define the parameters of public opinion within which decision-makers must operate. Both general public and elite respondents were queried regarding the biggest problems facing the United States, the spending levels for various federal government programs, the role of Congress in determining foreign policy, the impact of foreign policy on issues like prices and unemployment, and the Clinton Administration's handling of various problems such as the overall foreign policy, the overall trade policy, immigration, and the relations with Latin America, Japan, Russia, Cuba, Vietnam, and the Middle East. Questions were also asked about the government's reactions to the ongoing situations in Bosnia, North Korea, Haiti, Cuba, Rwanda, and the Middle East, the importance of various countries to America's vital interests, and possible adversaries or threats to the United States in the near future. Issues like the presence of NATO troops in Western Europe, the military role of Japan and Germany, the economic unification of Western Europe, the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and the illegal drugs problem were also explored. In addition, the elites were asked several questions about their political party affiliation and the strength of that affiliation. Demographic data such as religious preference, marital status, employment status, household composition, education, age, Hispanic origin, race, sex, and income were only collected for the general population sample.

Graph and download economic data for New Corporate Securities Issued, Stock, All Industries for United States (Q10122USQ144NNBR) from Q1 1948 to Q1 1964 about issues, equity, securities, corporate, new, industry, and USA.

This dataset focuses on the black-white wage gap in the United States. It provides insights into the disparities in hourly wages between black and white workers, as well as different gender and subgroup breakdowns.

The data is derived from the Economic Policy Institute’s State of Working America Data Library, a reputable source for socio-economic research and analysis.

Graph and download economic data for Number of Commercial Paper Issues with a Maturity Between 1 and 4 Days (MKT14MKTVOL) from 2001-01-02 to 2025-07-10 about 1-4 days, issues, commercial paper, maturity, commercial, and USA.

Replication Data for: "The Political Implications of American Concerns about Economic Inequality," published in Political Behavior

Graph and download economic data for Number of Issues, with a Maturity Between 21 and 40 Days, Used in Calculating the AA Nonfinancial Commercial Paper Rates (NONFIN2140AAVOL) from 2001-01-02 to 2025-07-10 about 21-40 days, used, AA, issues, commercial paper, nonfinancial, maturity, commercial, rate, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Number of Commercial Paper Issues with a Maturity Between 41 and 80 Days (MKT4180MKTVOL) from 2001-01-02 to 2025-07-10 about 41-80 days, issues, commercial paper, maturity, commercial, and USA.

The current political discourse in the United States focuses on extreme political polarization as a contributor to ills ranging from government shutdowns to awkward family holidays. And indeed, a large body of research has documented differences between liberals and conservatives–primarily focused on Republicans and Democrats in the United States. We combine large international surveys and more fine-grained surveys of United States citizens to compare differences in opinion between Republicans and Democrats to the full range of world opinion on moral issues (N = 37,653 in 39 countries) and issues of free speech (N = 40,786 in 38 countries). When viewed in the full distribution, polarization between Democrats and Republicans appears relatively small, even on divisive issues such as abortion, sexual preference, and freedom of religious speech. The average Democrat-Republic overlap is greater than 70% of the country pair overlaps across eight moral issues, meaning that 70% of the country pairs are more dissimilar from each other than Democrats and Republicans are dissimilar; similarly, the average Democrat-Republic overlap is greater than 79% of the country pair overlaps across five freedom of speech issues. These results suggest that cross-cultural comparisons are useful for putting differences between political partisans within the same country in context.

This survey was designed to obtain a clear picture of the resources, problems, needs, and preferences of the eight million elderly Americans who live alone. The questions cover not only living arrangements and demographic information, but also economic well-being, health, health care, health insurance, difficulties and fears, need for help, obtaining help, and opinions on policies that have been proposed on the behalf of the elderly. The living arrangements of those in the sample fell into three categories: approximately 30 percent lived alone, 54 percent lived with spouses, and 16 percent lived with children or others. The sample included 903 widowed women over age 65. Comparable data on a Hispanic American sample, who were interviewed with the same questionnaire, are available in NATIONAL SURVEY OF HISPANIC ELDERLY LIVING ALONE, 1988 (ICPSR 9289).

Graph and download economic data for Government-Sponsored Enterprises; GSE Issues; Liability, Transactions (BOGZ1FA403161705A) from 1946 to 2024 about GSE, issues, transactions, liabilities, and USA.

International debt issues to GDP (%) in United States was reported at 21.44 % in 2020, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. United States - International debt issues to GDP - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on June of 2025.