A new YouGov survey asked Americans about the seriousness of 33 problems in the U.S. Corruption, inflation, and political division are seen by majorities of Americans as very serious problems. Among Democrats, gun violence and a lack of access to health care are the problems most likely to be seen as very serious; among Republicans, the largest majorities say illegal immigration and drug abuse are very serious problems. Among Republicans, the numbers who describe many of these issues as very serious have fallen significantly since August 2024, when Joe Biden was president.
The problems Americans are most likely to describe as very serious in the U.S. — of the 33 listed in the survey — are corruption (63%), inflation (59%), political division (59%), homelessness (58%), debt (58%), and poverty (57%).
The problems that the lowest shares of Americans describe as very serious are COVID-19 (11%), traffic (19%), and lack of public transportation (22%).
Democrats are more likely than Republicans to describe many of these problems as very serious. Among the largest gaps: 73% of Democrats and 15% of Republicans say racism is a very serious problem. 72% of Democrats and 15% of Republicans say the same about climate change, while 74% of Democrats and 18% of Republicans say income inequality is a very serious problem.
The problems that Republicans are more likely than Democrats to see as very serious are illegal immigration (70% vs. 24%) and terrorism (38% vs. 31%).
The problems that Democrats and Republicans are about equally likely to see as very serious include violent crime (48% of Democrats vs. 49% of Republicans), drug abuse (56% vs. 55%), election fraud (34% vs. 33%) and property crime (27% vs. 25%).
Their age also divides how seriously Americans view many of these problems. Adults under 30 are more likely than older Americans to say lack of public transportation (41% vs. 17%), a shortage of housing (61% vs. 42%), and climate change (55% vs. 36%) are very serious problems.
Americans 30 and older are more likely than younger adults to say illegal immigration (49% vs. 34%), infrastructure deterioration (41% vs. 31%), drug abuse (56% vs. 46%), and anti-Semitism (30% vs. 21%) are very serious problems.
Americans are less likely now than they were in August 2024 to describe illegal immigration as a very serious problem (43% vs. 53%). They also are less likely now than last August to see as very serious problems terrorism (33% vs. 42%) and inflation (59% vs. 67%).
Republicans are much less likely than they were in August 2024 to see many of the problems asked about as very serious. 48% say inflation is a very serious problem, down from 89% who said this a year ago. They also are far less likely to see election fraud (33% vs. 59%) and unemployment (19% vs. 40%) as very serious problems now as they were a year ago.
For Democrats, it’s the opposite — they’re more likely than they were a year ago to perceive many issues as serious problems. They are more likely now than in August 2024 to describe as very serious problems inflation (71% vs. 45%), lack of public transportation (35% vs. 26%), and corruption (72% vs. 51%).
The share of Americans who believe violent crime is a very serious problem has fallen to a new low of 48% — down from 53% a year ago, 62% in August 2023, and 60% in August 2022.
Concerns about COVID-19 have also lessened since 2022. In 2025, only 11% describe it as a very serious problem, down from 15% a year ago, 10% in August 2023, and 26% in August 2022.
Related:
- A growing share of Americans see anti-Semitism as a very serious problem
- Most Americans see corruption among politicians, judges, and executives as serious problems
- More Americans see violent crime and corruption as serious national problems than as local ones
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 August 4 - 7, 2025, 2025 among 1,100 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 (Spencer Platt / Staff)
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