Only one in three Americans have confidence in the church, Gallup finds

Only about one-third of Americans have confidence in the church or organized religion, and even fewer have faith in public schools. Gallup sampled Americans’ level of trust in more than a dozen institutions, as it has done for several years.

Thirty-two percent of respondents expressed a “great deal” or “fair amount” of confidence in the church and organized religion compared to the historic low of 31 percent recorded in 2022 but still lower than the 37 percent recorded in 2021.  Twenty-six percent of Americans held a “great deal” or “fair amount” of confidence in the public schools, tying the historic low recorded in 2014 and down from 32 percent in 2021.

The share of Americans who have a “great deal” or “fair amount” of confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court rose from a record low of 25 percent in 2022 to 27 percent in 2023 but still down from 36 percent in 2021.

The confidence level in public schools, Supreme Court and Church or organized religion varied significantly based on partisan identification. A larger share of Democrats (43 percent) than Republicans (9 percent) and independents (25 percent) expressed a “great deal” or “fair amount” of confidence in public schools. Meanwhile, a larger share of Republicans (49 percent) reported a significant amount of confidence in the church and organized religion compared to 25 percent among both Democrats and independents.

Similarly, a greater share of Republicans (43 percent) held a “great deal” or “fair amount” of confidence in the high court than Democrats (15 percent), likely reflecting Democrats’ intense disapproval of some of the court’s major rulings, including the 2022 ruling determining that the U.S. Constitution does not contain a right to abortion. Twenty-six percent of independents expressed some level of confidence in the Supreme Court.

The average level of confidence in nine institutions Gallup has consistently sampled public opinion about since 1979 reached an all-time low of 26 percent this year, a dip from the 27 percent measured last year and the high of 48 percent in 1979.

–Dwight Widaman | Metro Voice