Story Highlights
- 78% say the American Dream is worth striving for, unchanged from 2024
- Most Republicans (57%) and Democrats (60%) agree that the Dream is unfinished
- People born outside the U.S. have the most forward-looking attitudes
WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary amid growing partisan divisions and widespread concerns about the country's direction, less than half (46%) of Americans believe everyone in the country has the opportunity to achieve the American Dream. While confidence in the state of the Dream has softened on most measures since 2024, belief that it is important to strive for (78%) has remained resilient. Despite this general decline since 2024, most U.S. adults still believe they will personally achieve the Dream (69%) and agree that the Dream is unfinished (58%).
These findings come from the second wave of the Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream (MCAAD)-Gallup American Dream Study, a nationally representative web and mail survey of more than 6,300 U.S. adults, conducted Jan. 7-March 4, 2026. The survey is part of an ongoing collaboration between Gallup and MCAAD to study how Americans connect to the concept of the American Dream. The research is featured in the center's long-term exhibition, the American Dream Experience, in Washington, D.C.
Most Believe in the Dream, but Many Don't Think Everyone Can Achieve It
The survey asked respondents, in an open-ended question format, to say what comes to mind when they think of the American Dream. Their written responses were analyzed using a topic-modeling approach, which revealed that Americans most often point to personal freedoms or individual rights (33%), financial security or homeownership (28%), and success or upward mobility (18%) when describing the American Dream. Smaller percentages describe the Dream as fading or hard to reach (6%) or a falsehood (6%).
Regardless of how Americans define the Dream, less than half believe it is within reach for everyone. Forty-six percent agree strongly (21%) or somewhat (25%) that everyone in the country has the opportunity to achieve the American Dream, down five percentage points from 2024. Meanwhile, 42% say they feel optimistic about the future of the Dream.
At the same time, most Americans continue to express confidence in their own ability to achieve the Dream and to consider it important. Nearly seven in 10 (69%) agree they will personally achieve the American Dream, down four points, while almost eight in 10 (78%) agree that it is important for people to strive for it, essentially unchanged from 2024.
The Majority of Americans Agree That the Dream Is Unfinished
The survey asked Americans for their views of the status of the American Dream: whether it has succeeded, has failed or is unfinished. More than half (58%) say the Dream is unfinished, a view shared by similar percentages of Republicans (57%), Democrats (60%), and political independents (59%).
Meanwhile, 16% of U.S. adults say the Dream has succeeded, and 26% say it has failed. Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say the Dream has failed (33% vs. 11%, respectively), while Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say it has succeeded (31% vs. 7%).
Americans have specific ideas about what the U.S. should focus on over the next 50 years to ensure future generations can achieve the Dream. In response to this open-ended question, similar percentages of Republicans (28%), Democrats (27%) and independents (28%) mention government reform as the top priority. Beyond that, priorities diverge: Republicans more often name education (24%, vs. 13% of Democrats) or core values and social cohesion (12% vs. 7%); Democrats more often name equality and rights (28%, vs. 12% of Republicans) and the cost of living and basic needs (16% vs. 9%).
People Born Outside the U.S. Hold the Most Forward-Looking Views
Respondents born outside the United States widely view the American Dream as a path to upward mobility rather than a state of basic economic comfort. Seventy-two percent define the Dream as opportunity (improving life for themselves and their family through education, better jobs and other resources), while 28% see it as stability (being able to support their family with a job and safe place to live). By contrast, those born in the U.S. to U.S.-born parents are about evenly split: 47% define the Dream as opportunity and 53% as stability. Those born in the U.S. with at least one parent born abroad fall in between, with 56% selecting opportunity. This pattern is largely unchanged from 2024.
Additionally, adults born outside the U.S. hold more optimistic views across many measures related to the possibility of achieving the Dream. They are more likely than adults born in the U.S. to U.S.-born parents to say people can get ahead by working hard (77% vs. 66%), to say they can achieve a better life than their parents' generation (75% vs. 66%), and to feel optimistic about the future of the American Dream (51% vs. 42%).
The pattern of foreign-born adults viewing the U.S. with more optimism extends beyond the American Dream to Gallup's broader global research. The U.S. ranks first globally on the percentage of foreign-born adults who say their local area is a good place for immigrants to live (96%), with a wider gap between foreign-born and native-born (81%) views on this question than in any other advanced economy. The U.S. also remains the world's most-desired destination for adults who would like to move permanently to another country (15%), even as overall global migration desire has fallen to its lowest level in a decade.
Implications
As the United States turns 250, most U.S. adults agree that the American Dream is unfinished, a view held by similar percentages of Republicans, Democrats and independents. This is a key area of cross-party agreement in today's polarized political climate and suggests Americans across party lines still largely view the American Dream as a work in progress. They also converge on prioritizing government reform and systems change as the top area for the country to focus on in the future, which may offer leaders a useful starting point for the work ahead.
Less than half of Americans in 2026 believe everyone in the country has the opportunity to achieve the American Dream. Most, however, still consider it important to strive for and expect to achieve it for themselves. Belief that the Dream is worth striving for has not changed since 2024, suggesting the Dream's value as an aspirational ideal has held even as confidence in its widespread accessibility has softened. Whether the 23-point gap between personal confidence in achieving the Dream and the belief that everyone has the opportunity to do so changes in the years ahead may indicate not only the Dream's trajectory, but broader attitudes toward the country itself.
Adults born outside the U.S. hold the most forward-looking views of the Dream. They are the most likely group of Americans to define the Dream as opportunity, to believe in upward mobility, and to feel optimistic about its future. This pattern suggests the Dream's promise may be carried forward more by those who come seeking it than by those born into it.
As Americans prepare to mark the country's 250th anniversary, these findings may help inform conversations about what it will take to advance the American Dream in the years ahead.
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