Biden Approval Ratings Diverge by Gender, Education, Race

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- President Joe Biden has averaged 56% job approval across three Gallup polls since taking office, including 54% in the latest survey from March 1-15. In addition to a yawning party gap, Biden's job ratings also differ significantly by gender, education, race and place of residence.

	Approve	Disapprove	N
	%	%
All U.S. adults	56	39	2,937
Gender
Men	49	45	1,643
Women	62	34	1,294
Race
White adults	45	52	2,211
Non-White adults	78	15	676
Black adults	89	8	228
Hispanic adults	73	17	306
Party
Democrat	96	3	845
Independent	55	36	1,234
Republican	10	88	823
Education
College graduate	64	33	1,361
Not college graduate	51	43	1,560
Age
18-29 years old	66	27	396
30-49 years old	57	36	726
50-64 years old	51	46	783
65+ years old	51	47	989
Region
East	61	33	604
Midwest	53	42	620
South	50	45	1,032
West	61	34	681
Place of residence
Big city	73	23	437
Small city	58	38	591
Suburb of big/small city	59	37	856
Town	50	41	450
Rural area	36	61	534
Figures are based on aggregated data from Jan. 21-Feb. 2, Feb. 3-18, and March 1-15 polls.
Gallup

During the first two full months of his presidency, Biden has retained nearly unanimous approval from his fellow Democrats, averaging 96%, compared with 55% among independents and 10% among Republicans.

Approval of Biden is also high among Black (89%) and Hispanic (73%) Americans, while less than half of White Americans, 45%, evaluate his performance positively.

Other notable gaps are seen in Biden's job approval by gender, age and education. These differences primarily, though not entirely, reflect the party leanings of those groups:

• 62% of women and 49% of men approve of the job Biden is doing.

• Biden's approval rating is 64% among college graduates and 51% among those without a four-year degree.

• Sixty-six percent of adults under age 30 believe Biden is doing a good job, compared with 51% of adults ages 50 and older. Meanwhile, 57% of those between the ages of 30 and 49 give Biden a favorable review.

• The effects of gender and age interact so that Biden's job approval rating is 68% among younger women (under age 50), 58% among older women, 53% among younger men, and 43% among older men.

Regionally, differences in job approval are modest but still apparent, with 61% of residents of both the East and West, 53% of Midwestern residents and 50% of Southern residents approving of Biden.

Location matters more when considering urban versus rural residency. Whereas 73% of Americans who say they live in "a big city" approve of Biden, 36% who say they live in rural areas do. Between those geographic extremes, Biden's approval is 58% among "small city" residents, 59% among suburban residents, and 50% among those who say they live in a "town."

At 62%, lower-income respondents -- those whose annual household income is less than $40,000 -- are more likely to approve of Biden than middle- and upper-income respondents (both at 54%).

Biden is the second Catholic to be elected president, and 58% of his fellow Catholics approve of the job he is doing. His approval rating is higher than that among Americans with no religious identification (71%), while it is lower among Protestants (47%).

Bottom Line

Biden is enjoying a modest honeymoon early in his presidency, with his approval ratings to date still above the historical average 53% rating for presidents. His honeymoon is being driven by near-unanimous approval among his fellow Democrats and majority approval among independents, with the vast majority of Republicans disapproving from the start.

Wide party differences in approval are not unique to Biden, but the size of those gaps in his initial approval ratings is larger than for recent presidents. This suggests the extreme polarization in approval ratings seen under Donald Trump is not going away, despite Biden's appeals in his inaugural address and other speeches since being elected president to move beyond those political divisions.

Americans largely believe Biden is doing a good job of responding to the coronavirus, and it seems likely his first-year approval ratings will depend largely on U.S. progress in fighting the virus. But Biden is also facing other early challenges in his presidency, including an immigration crisis at the southern U.S. border, marked political divisions in this country, and small businesses and unemployed workers suffering from the economic downturn.

Explore President Biden's approval ratings and compare them with those of past presidents in the Gallup Presidential Job Approval Center.

View complete question responses and trends (PDF download).

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