Pride in America Falls Ahead of July 4 Weekend
This weekend, Americans around the country will celebrate the 249th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence by waving flags, attending parades, firing up the grill, and celebrating the people and ideas that make life in the relatively ordered and free United States possible.
But despite the patriotic festivities, the latest Gallup poll shows that many Americans, especially younger ones, aren’t feeling particularly proud of their country at the moment.
In Gallup’s latest poll, taken June 2‑19, 58% said they were extremely or very proud to be American, down from 67% in 2024. Another 19% percent said they were moderately proud, 11% said they were only a little proud, and 9% said they were not at all proud to be American. Before 2018, fewer than a combined 10% of U.S. adults fell into the “only a little proud” or “not at all proud” categories.
Over the period Gallup has tracked American pride, 2001‑25, 58% feeling extremely or very proud is an all-time low. The all-time high was 91% in both 2002 and 2004, and it has steadily declined since then.
The decline from 2024 to 2025 came primarily from Democrats, whose share saying they were extremely or very proud fell from 62% to 36%. The Republican share, by contrast, rose to 92%, up from 85% in 2024. Since the poll began, Republicans have been the prouder group, but the gap between Republicans and Democrats has widened from 6 points in 2002 to 56 points in 2025.
A significant generational divide has also emerged. Between 2021 and 2025, only 41% of Generation Z (born 1997‑2012) were extremely or very proud, compared with 83% of those born before 1946, 75% of baby boomers (1946‑64), 71% of Generation X (1965‑79) and 58% of millennials (1980‑96).
Partisan gaps persist across all age groups as well: Only 24% of Gen Z Democrats were extremely or very proud, compared with 65% of Gen Z Republicans. Millennial Democrats were similarly less proud, with just 44% saying they were extremely or very proud, versus 87% of millennial Republicans.
This relatively low sense of pride comes despite comparatively optimistic views about the nation’s direction. In the current RealClearPolitics Direction of the Country Average, 43% say the United States is on the right track. Since RCP began tracking the measure in 2008, it has been above 43% only twice, once early in President Biden’s term in 2021 as the country reopened after COVID-19, and once in spring 2009, early in President Barack Obama’s first term.
Fortunately for the nation, it has rebounded from similar periods of uncertainty before. When Gallup asked in 1966 whether respondents were satisfied with the United States’ position in the world, only 46% said they were, similar to the 39% who responded the same in 2025. Yet by February 2002, just five months after 9/11, 71% said they were satisfied with the nation’s global standing.
While younger generations came of age during periods that weren’t necessarily America’s golden years, leading to deeper skepticism toward the country than seen in older cohorts, there’s still hope that they will grow to trust the institutions that have weathered slavery, the Civil War, the Great Depression, and two world wars. In time, America may show them it is still a nation worth being proud of.
While the party that won the presidency has not held the House of Representatives in the midterm elections since 2002, the current RealClearPolitics Average for the Generic Congressional Vote shows Republicans within striking distance, with Democrats leading by just 2.3 percentage points.
Trump’s job approval continues to vary widely depending on the pollster, ranging from -13 in Quinnipiac, to -1 in Emerson and +3 in the latest Rasmussen poll. The RealClearPolitics Average for Trump’s Job Approval has him at -4 net approval.
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