Percentage of Americans ‘very’ satisfied with lives near record low: Gallup

The percentage of Americans who say they are “very” satisfied with their personal lives has neared a record low, according to a new poll.

A Gallup survey released Thursday found that 47 percent of Americans consider themselves “very satisfied” with their lives — only the third time since 2002 that less than half of Americans reported high satisfaction. This 2024 percentage is just 1 percentage point higher than the 2011 record low, when 46 percent of Americans said they were very satisfied with their personal lives.

Gallup noted that the other low points in Americans’ high satisfaction came “at times of economic uncertainty,” such as during the 2008 financial crisis and in 2011, when the world was still reeling from the recession.

The 47 percent of respondents who said they are “very” satisfied is down 3 percentage points from last year.

The survey also found that 31 percent of Americans are “somewhat” satisfied with how their personal lives are going, 11 percent are “somewhat” dissatisfied and 9 percent are “very” dissatisfied.

Gallup noted the combined 78 percent of Americans who are very or somewhat satisfied is below the trend average of 84 percent since 1979. It is also the lowest since 2011, according to the pollster.

The satisfaction rate is also down 5 points since hitting its record high of 90 percent in early 2020 — ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic, per the survey.

Majorities of Americans across certain demographic subgroups are more likely to say they are very satisfied, including those who make more than $100,000, those who are married, those who attend religious services, college graduates, Democrats or those 55 and older.

The Gallup poll was conducted Jan. 2-22 among 1,011 adults and has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.