Most Important Problem

Line graph. 2001-2020 trend: Percentage of Americans mentioning economic issues as the most important U.S. problem.

What do you think is the most important problem facing the country today?

Recent Trend

	2020 Jan	2019 Dec	2019 Nov	2019 Oct	2019 Sep	2019 Aug	2019 Jul
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
ECONOMIC PROBLEMS (NET)	10	11	13	11	15	11	14
Economy in general	2	2	4	3	4	3	3
Gap between rich and poor	2	1	2	1	1	1	2
Unemployment/Jobs	1	2	2	2	3	2	2
Federal budget deficit/Federal debt	1	2	2	2	2	3	2
Taxes	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Lack of money	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Wage issues	1	*	1	1	1	1	1
Foreign trade/Trade deficit	--	*	*	1	1	1	*
Corporate corruption	*	*	--	*	*	*	*
High cost of living/Inflation	*	*	*	*	1	*	1
Fuel/Oil prices	--	*	--	--	--	*	*
NON-ECONOMIC PROBLEMS (NET)	82	82	85	86	84	86	85
The government/Poor leadership	28	25	33	34	23	22	23
Immigration	6	10	11	13	16	18	27
Healthcare	6	5	6	5	5	6	7
Poverty/Hunger/Homelessness	5	6	4	3	3	3	3
Unifying the country	5	4	5	5	4	4	4
Ethics/moral/religious/family decline	5	3	3	3	3	2	3
Environment/Pollution/Climate change	4	5	3	4	6	3	4
Lack of respect for each other	4	4	3	3	2	4	3
Race relations/Racism	3	6	5	6	6	8	7
Guns/Gun control	2	1	2	2	5	8	1
Foreign policy/Foreign aid/Focus overseas	2	1	1	1	1	*	1
Education	2	1	2	2	2	2	3
Wars/War (nonspecific)/Fear of war	2	*	1	1	1	1	1
Situation in Iraq/ISIS	2	--	*	*	*	--	1
Drugs	1	2	2	2	2	1	2
National security	1	2	1	*	1	1	*
Elections/Election reform	1	2	1	1	1	*	1
Crime/Violence	1	2	2	2	1	4	1
Judicial system/Courts/Laws	1	1	1	2	2	1	1
International issues, problems	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Welfare	1	1	*	*	1	*	1
The media	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Lack of military defense	1	1	1	*	*	1	1
Terrorism	1	*	1	1	*	1	*
Abortion	1	*	2	1	1	1	1
War/conflict between Middle East nations	1	--	--	*	*	--	--
Children's behavior/Way they are raised	*	1	*	*	*	*	*
Advancement of Computers/Technology	*	*	*	*	--	*	*
Gay/Lesbian rights	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Care for the elderly/Medicare	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Situation with Russia	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
School shootings	--	1	*	*	1	--	*
Situation with China	--	*	1	*	1	*	*
Social Security	--	*	1	*	*	*	*
Situation with North Korea	--	*	--	*	--	--	1
Other non-economic	6	1	5	5	4	5	4
No opinion	7	4	3	3	3	3	6
Total	112%	108%	119%	117%	117%	117%	127%
* Less than 0.5%; Percentages total more than 100% due to multiple mentions.
Gallup

Which political party do you think can do a better job of handling the problem you think is most important -- the Republican Party or the Democratic Party?

Based on those who name a most important problem

	Republican Party	Democratic Party	Same/Other/No opinion
	%	%	%
2019 Sep 3-15	40	44	16
2018 Sep 4-12	40	41	19
2017 Sep 6-10	34	41	25
2016 Sep 7-11	42	38	20
2015 Sep 9-13	42	37	23
2014 Sep 4-7	40	36	25
2014 Jul 7-10	35	35	29
2013 Sep 5-8	34	39	27
2012 Sep 6-9	39	49	13
2011 Sep 8-11	44	37	19
2010 Sep 13-16	40	38	22
2009 Aug 31-Sep 2	34	45	20
2008 Sep 8-11	39	46	14
2007 Sep 14-16	30	47	22
2006 Sep 7-10	34	49	16
2005 Sep 12-15	39	40	21
2005 Jan 3-5	41	41	18
2004 Sep 13-15	46	43	11
2004 Jan 12-15	39	46	15
2002 Jul 26-28	38	36	26
2001 Jan 10-14	39	39	22
1999 Jan 15-17	33	43	24
1998 Apr 17-19	40	42	18
1997 Jan 10-13	33	43	24
1996 Jul 25-28	37	41	22
1996 May 9-12	40	44	16
1995 Jan 16-18	42	32	26
1994 Oct 22-25	41	37	22
1994 Aug 15-16	38	37	25
1994 Aug 8-9	39	37	24
1994 Jul 15-17	39	32	29
1994 Jan	31	39	30
1993 Sep 10-12	31	37	32
1993 Jan 8-11	29	45	26
1992 Mar 26-29	34	40	26
1991 Jul 11-14	36	28	36
1991 Mar 7-10	40	27	33
1990 Oct	30	29	41
1988 Sep	38	33	29
1988 May 9-11	27	40	33
1987 Apr 10-13	29	37	34
1986 Jan 10-13	33	28	39
1985 Jan 25-28	39	29	32
1984 Aug 10-13	39	37	24
1984 Feb 10-13	30	32	38
1983 Nov 18-21	28	35	37
1982 Aug 13-16	26	35	39
1981 Jan 8-11	39	20	41
1980 Mar 28-31	28	32	40
1979 Oct 12-15	25	33	42
1976 Apr 23-26	18	39	43
1975 Oct 17-20	15	42	43
1972 Aug	28	34	38
1968 May	30	28	42
1964 Apr 24-29	16	40	44
1960 Feb 4-9	24	32	44
1956 Sep 20-25	55	45	--
Gallup

Most Important Problem

Related Topics Include:

Foreign Trade: Opportunity or Threat to the U.S. Economy?

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