What professions do Americans trust and distrust the most?
A Gallup poll of 1003 adults in the United States conducted from December 2 to December 18, 2024, showed which professions Americans trust the most. The results showed that nurses, elementary school teachers, military officers, pharmacists, and doctors were rated the highest. Television journalists, members of Congress, and political lobbyists were considered the most corrupt and unscrupulous, writes axes

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Telephone interviews were conducted with randomly selected individuals living in all 50 U.S. states and Washington, D.C. The margin of error is ±4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
Americans have always considered health care workers, high school teachers, and military officers to be among the most ethical professions. But even their ratings have dropped significantly
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Rating of ethics and honesty of professions
Profession | Very high or high | Fair | Very low or low |
Positive majority | |||
Nurses | 76% | — | 19% |
Primary school teachers | 61% | 25% | 11% |
Military officers | 59% | 28% | 9% |
Pharmacists | 57% | 33% | 9% |
Doctors | 53% | 33% | 14% |
Negative majority | |||
TV reporters | 13% | 31% | 55% |
Members of Congress | 8% | 23% | 68% |
Lobbyists | 2% | 21% | 68% |
Americans' opinions about the ethics of various professions have hit an all-time low, reflecting a general decline in trust in U.S. institutions.
The average rating for honesty and ethics among 11 key professions was 30%, down from 40% in 2005.
Three professions received "mostly negative" ratings: television reporters, members of Congress, and political lobbyists. They were followed by advertising specialists, car salesmen, business managers, and government officials.
Kindergarten teachers, funeral directors, police officers and auto mechanics received "completely positive" ratings.
Three of the five professions with a "positive majority" were in the medical field, but nursing home managers received negative ratings.
Despite high positions on the list, trust in doctors and pharmacists has become lower than before the pandemic.
A survey published last year separately found that more people trust their own ability to assess health information or turn to friends for advice because of a lack of trust in government health authorities.
Elementary school teachers also received "favorable ratings," but Americans expressed growing dissatisfaction with the secondary education system.
Trust in judges and the clergy has fallen the most over the long term, although ratings for both groups still remain positive.
Thus, trust in judges reached a minimum of 28% in the honesty and ethics rating, which is 21 points lower than the figures of the early 2000s.
Public approval of the U.S. Supreme Court has nearly hit a record low since the court's final term, according to a recent Gallup poll. Approval has fallen sharply among Democrats as the court's rulings have taken a conservative turn.
Meanwhile, over the past decade, there has been a decline in trust in religious institutions among all age groups.
Trust in the media in the United States hit an all-time low last year, and a report released on January 13 confirms low ratings for television and newspaper reporters.
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Fifty-five percent of respondents rated television reporters as having “mostly negative” standards of honesty and ethics, down 55 percentage points from the early 9s. Forty-five percent of respondents also said newspaper reporters have consistently received low ratings over the years.
Nurses have had the highest rating every year except one year since they were added to the survey in 1999.
"The exception was 2001, when firefighters surveyed that year received a record 90% trust rating. This was after their heroic actions during the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center," the report said.
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