Near the end of the year, YouGov surveyed Americans about how they thought 2024 went for themselves and for the country, and to share predictions for 2025 and beyond. While similar year-end polls in 2023, 2022, and 2021 typically found Republicans to have a more pessimistic view of the future than Democrats, ahead of another year of the Joe Biden presidency, this year’s poll largely found the opposite. With Donald Trump scheduled to become president again next month, Republicans now are more optimistic than Democrats about the future of the country.
About half (49%) of Americans say 2024 was a terrible (22%) or bad (27%) year for the country, and only 16% say it was good (12%) or great (4%). 30% say 2024 was an OK year for the country. Republicans (60%) are more likely than Independents (47%) or Democrats (40%) to say it was a bad or terrible year for the country.
As was the case in 2023 and 2022, more Americans have a positive view of how the year was for them personally than say it was a good year for the country. 31% say it was a great (8%) or good (23%) year for them personally, 41% say it was OK, 16% say it was bad, and 10% say it was terrible.
38% of Americans — including 60% of Republicans and 19% of Democrats — think 2024 was one of the worst years in American history. A slightly larger share of Americans (44%) think it was about average, and just 6% think it was one of the best years in American history.
Expectations for the U.S. in 2025 are mixed. 18% of Americans think it will be a great year for the country. 21% think it will be good, 16% think it will be OK, 17% think it will be bad, and 18% think it will be terrible. Republicans (69%) are much more likely than Independents (29%) or Democrats (19%) to predict that 2025 will be a good or great year for the country.
Far more Americans, however, expect good things for themselves in 2025 than anticipate bad ones. About half (49%) expect it will be a great year for them personally (21%) or a good one (27%). Only 17% expect 2025 will be bad (10%) or terrible (7%). 25% think 2025 will be an OK year for them. Republicans (64%) are more likely than Democrats (42%) or Independents (40%) to predict it will be a good or great year for them personally.
41% of Americans think their life will be better in 2025. The majority (56%) of Republicans feel this way, as do 34% of Democrats and 34% of Independents. 15% of Americans — including 4% of Republicans and 28% of Democrats — think their life will be worse in 2025.
Adults under 30 are more likely than older Americans to say they think their life will be better in 2025 (56% vs. 37%). 7% of adults under 30 think their life will be worse in 2025; older Americans are more likely to think this (17%).
Longer-term expectations for the country are somewhat more positive than 2025 predictions. 36% of Americans think the next 10 years will be better than the prior 10 years for the country; 26% think it will be worse. 23% think the coming decade will be about the same. Democrats (44%) are much more likely than Independents (25%) and Republicans (9%) to say they think the next 10 years will be worse for the country than the prior 10 years were.
Democrats also are less likely than others to say they think the next 10 years will be better for them personally: 38% think this, compared to 42% of Independents and 53% of Republicans.
The share of Republicans who believe the next 10 years will be better than the prior 10 years for them personally has increased sharply since December 2023, to 53% from 33%. The increase in the number of Republicans who believe the next 10 years will be better than the prior 10 years for the U.S. has been particularly steep, to 63% from 26%.
Despite their slightly positive 10-year outlook, Americans are about twice as likely to believe that the U.S. will be worse when today’s children grow up than to think it will be better (38% vs. 20%). 19% think it will be about the same. Republicans (27%) are more likely than Independents (18%) and Democrats (16%) to believe the country will be better.
Parents of children under age 18 are more likely than other Americans to believe the country will be better when today’s children grow up (27% vs. 19%). But parents of children under 18 nonetheless are slightly likelier to believe the country will be worse by the time their children grow up than better (32% vs. 27%).
In December 2023, only 11% of Republicans thought the country would be better when today’s children grow up; that figure has now increased to 27%.
When rating on a scale of 1 (very bad) to 10 (very good) how things will be going for the U.S. in 10 years, 55% give a rating of 6 or higher, including 5% who think things will be a 10, or very good. Republicans (10%) are more likely than Democrats (4%) and Independents (3%) to think things will be a 10 in 10 years. Meanwhile, 7% think things will be a 1 — very bad — in the country in 10 years.
In December 2023, fewer (44%) gave a rating of 6 or higher for how things would be going in the U.S. in 10 years. There has been a sizable shift among Republicans: 68% give a rating of 6 or higher now, compared to 40% a year earlier.
Related:
- What are Americans’ New Year’s resolutions for 2025?
- What Americans thought of 2023, both for the country and for themselves
- Two-thirds of Republicans say 2022 was one of the worst years in American history
- A majority of U.S. adults say 2021 was one of the worst years in American history
See the results for this YouGov survey
— Carl Bialik and Taylor Orth contributed to this article
Methodology: This article includes results from an online survey conducted December 9 - 11, 2024 among 1,122 U.S. adult citizens. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of adult U.S. citizens. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2024 presidential vote, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given around November 8, 2024, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (31% Democratic, 32% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 4%.
Image: Getty
