Gallup

Just one in four adults without a college degree think most people in the U.S. have access to a quality, affordable education after high school, down 10 points since 2023. Full insights from Lumina Foundation and Gallup: on.gallup.com/4tVTwUH

Federal workers are twice as likely as state and local workers to say their company or employer is letting people go, with 38% reporting workforce reductions compared with 19% of state and local workers.

"What is so inspiring is that the majority of Americans today actually believe that the American Dream is unfinished - and that we are still building it together." @Gallup CEO @JonCliftonDC spoke at #MIGlobal 2026 last week about how Americans currently feel about the attainability of the American Dream. Catch the replay: milkeninstitute.org/content-hub/ev… #GlobalConference #Leadership #AmericanDream

Global confidence in many key national institutions is higher today than it was 20 years ago.

Seven in 10 Americans oppose constructing data centers for artificial intelligence in their local area, including nearly half, 48%, who are strongly opposed.

Nearly three in four U.S. adults without a college degree (73%) say getting a two- or four-year degree is just as important today as it was 20 years ago. Sixty-nine percent of college grads agree. Explore the latest findings from Lumina Foundation and Gallup: on.gallup.com/4d7HK2p

In 2025, 43% of Americans aged 15 to 34 said it was a good time to find a job locally, 21 percentage points lower than for Americans aged 55 and older.

At the country level since 2011, the 10 largest increases in job market optimism globally are all from Europe.

The decline in near-term homebuying intentions is most pronounced among younger non-homeowners, who would typically be the most likely first-time buyers. Two-year combined averages of the data show that just 29% of non-homeowners aged 18 to 34 in 2025 and 2026 say they expect to buy a home within five years, down from 57% in 2013 and 2015 and 53% in 2016 and 2018.

Nearly three in five currently employed Americans, 58%, say they plan to keep working part time when they reach retirement age. Meanwhile, one-quarter of employed adults plan to stop working altogether in retirement.

European employees have posted the largest regional gain in job optimism since 2011, but employee engagement remains low, with disengaged employees outnumbering engaged employees.

Globally, workers who do enjoy their daily work rate their lives more than a full point higher on a zero-to-10 scale than those who don’t enjoy it.

Americans who have already retired continue to be far more likely to say they are financially comfortable than nonretirees expect to be when they stop working.

A median of 64% of adults across 131 countries in 2025 said they believe the media in their country have a lot of freedom, while 30% disagreed.

Economic optimism continues to be a scarce commodity in the United Kingdom, with 21% of Britons last year saying their local economy is “getting better,” ranking it among the world’s least optimistic populations in 2025.

About three in 10 Americans expect driverless cars to be common within five years.

Currently, 18% of homeowners say they plan to sell within the next five years, 16% say within the next 10 years, and 65% say they are unlikely to sell in the foreseeable future.

29% of Americans say now is a good time to buy a house, while 67% say it is a bad time.

Less than a third of U.S. employees in AI-implementing organizations strongly agree their manager actively supports their team's use of AI.

A median of 64% of adults across 131 countries in 2025 said they believe the media in their country have a lot of freedom, while 30% disagreed.