The latest survey conducted by Gallup between June 2 and 19 reveals a country grappling with an identity crisis. Americans’ sense of national pride continues to erode, with this year’s numbers marking a new all-time low. Just 41% of respondents describe themselves as “extremely proud” to be American—down nine percentage points from 2024. But the sharpest drop doesn’t come from that category; it’s those who say they’re “very proud” who are disappearing fastest.
In total, only 60% of Americans now consider themselves either very or extremely proud of their national identity. Meanwhile, 19% say they feel “moderately proud,” 11% “only a little,” and a striking 9% admit they feel no pride at all. Together, the latter two groups make up 20%—just shy of the record low set during the tumultuous summer of 2020.
It wasn’t always this way. In January 2001, on the eve of George W. Bush’s first inauguration, a staggering 87% of adults expressed strong pride in being American. After the attacks of September 11, that number briefly surged to 90%. But by 2005, the trend had begun to reverse. In 2017, for the first time in Gallup’s records, the combined number of Americans who felt “very” or “extremely” proud fell below 75%. It has declined steadily ever since.
This year’s sharpest decline comes from the Democratic base. In just twelve months, the share of Democrats who feel very or extremely proud has fallen from 62% to 36%. It’s only the second time pride among Democrats has dipped below the 50% mark—the first was in 2020, in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Among independents, too, the numbers have reached a new low: just 53%, down seven points from the year before.
Republicans, on the other hand, cut against this trend. An overwhelming 92% describe themselves as very or extremely proud of their country, up from 85% in 2024. With rare exceptions—such as in 2020—the figure has held steady above 90% for over two decades.
The generational divide is equally telling. Only 41% of Gen Z Americans (those born after 1996) report feeling any significant national pride. The figure rises to 58% among millennials, 71% for Gen X, 75% among baby boomers, and peaks at 83% in the so-called Silent Generation. Yet even among the oldest Americans, pride has diminished since the early 2000s, with a marked acceleration after 2016.
Among young Democrats, the disconnect is particularly stark. Just 24% of Gen Z voters who lean left say they feel proud to be American. Meanwhile, 32% openly state they feel no pride at all.
According to Gallup analysts, this growing sense of detachment is the product of converging crises: economic uncertainty, institutional distrust, widening political divides, and an increasingly toxic public discourse. The last decade, defined by the presidencies of Donald Trump and Joe Biden, has only deepened the fracture.
