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History at a glance
- The 83 percent of Americans who report being satisfied with their personal lives is in line with historical averages measured since 1979.
- Satisfaction levels vary by age, education level, and marital status, among other factors.
- The results show that income level has the biggest impact on Americans’ overall satisfaction with their personal lives.
Despite pressing national issues like rising prices of everyday goods and heightened political polarization, most Americans say they are satisfied with how their personal lives are going, a new Gallup poll shows.
The 83 percent who report being at least somewhat satisfied with their lives is in line with historical averages measured since 1979.
Although personal life satisfaction varies by income, age, marital status, and education level, between 81 percent and 90 percent of Americans are satisfied with their own family life, current housing situation, work, education, community, and personal health.
Slightly lower levels – between 71 percent and 77 percent – say the same about the amount of free time they have, household income and standard of living.
Older adults tend to be more satisfied with their personal lives than middle-aged adults and younger adults, while married adults are significantly more satisfied than single adults on all dimensions except personal health.
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College graduates were slightly more likely to report personal life satisfaction than those without college degrees, although no differences were found in satisfaction with work, amount of free time, or family life.
“Although the American public is largely dissatisfied with the way things are going in the US, they are generally happy with the direction their personal lives are taking,” the report’s authors wrote. A follow-up Gallup poll conducted last month found that only 23 percent of Americans are satisfied with the state of the nation.
Since 1979, Americans’ level of satisfaction with their personal lives has ranged from 73% to 90%, according to Gallup. That record of 90 percent was measured in 2020, just before COVID-19 gripped the nation.
A record low was recorded in the summer of 1979 during the energy crisis. Levels also fell below 80 percent in the early 1980s and early 1990s during economic challenges, the data show.
They also fell in the years following the Great Recession of 2007-09. In November 2011, 78 percent of Americans were satisfied with their personal lives. That total rose slightly to 79 percent in December 2013.
Sixty-six percent of respondents in the current survey said they were very satisfied with their family life. Majorities also report being satisfied with their current housing, education, work and community as a place to live.
However, only 30 percent of Americans report being very satisfied with their household income. Thirty-seven percent say the same about their standard of living. These lower levels may be due to the high inflation seen in 2022, the report’s authors wrote.
The results also show that income “has a greater effect than any other major demographic factor on Americans’ satisfaction with their personal lives and with most specific aspects of life,” they said.
High-income individuals are more likely to report satisfaction in all aspects of life except the amount of free time they have compared to lower-income adults.
While 78 percent of those making more than $100,000 a year are very happy with their current home, only 46 percent of those making less than $40,000 say the same.
Compared to 2019 findings, high levels of satisfaction fell the most in areas such as personal health, family life and community as a place to live.
The findings are based on telephone interviews with more than 1,000 adults conducted in January 2023. Gallup’s margin of error is 4 percentage points. Among the employed adults surveyed, the margin of error is 5 percentage points.
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