Healthcare Dominates U.S. Concerns as Partisan Worry Gap Widens, Gallup Poll Finds

A new Gallup poll reveals that the availability and affordability of healthcare have returned as the top worry for Americans, leading economic issues by a significant margin for the first time in years. The survey data also highlights a near-historic partisan gap in how much Democrats and Republicans worry about the state of the nation.

Healthcare Leads Domestic Concerns

Sixty-one percent of Americans say they worry a “great deal” about healthcare, placing it 10 percentage points ahead of the economy (51%), inflation (50%), and federal spending (50%). This 10-point lead is the widest margin in years, marking healthcare’s return to the top spot it held from 2015 to 2020 after being temporarily displaced by inflation and economic concerns. Overall, Americans’ average concern across all 16 domestic issues measured has eased, dropping three points this year to 43%, which is the lowest level recorded since 2020.

Partisan Priorities Create Wide Divide

The poll found a sharp 21-point difference in average concern between Democrats and Republicans, which is among the widest gaps Gallup has ever recorded. Democrats’ average concern across all issues remains elevated at 51%, up significantly from 37% in 2024, while Republicans’ average concern has fallen to 30%. This trend mirrors historical patterns where supporters of the president’s party consistently worry less about domestic problems than those in the opposing party.

Republicans and Democrats prioritize vastly different issues:

• Republicans are primarily concerned with illegal immigration (55%), followed by federal spending (47%), drug use (42%), and crime (41%).
• Democrats cite healthcare (80%), income and wealth distribution (77%), and the economy (69%) as their top worries.

Independents’ priorities—including healthcare (66%), inflation (56%), federal spending (54%), and the economy (53%)—overlap with both parties but lean more toward the Democratic list. The sharpest partisan gaps were found in income distribution (58 points difference, favoring Democrats’ concern) and the environment (52 points difference). Illegal immigration remains the only issue where Republicans’ concern far outpaces that of Democrats, by 38 points.

Global Leadership Approval Lacks Majority Support

On the international front, none of the world’s major powers commands majority global leadership approval. Germany leads the approval ratings at 48%, followed by China at 36%, the U.S. at 31%, and Russia at 26%.

U.S. approval fell by eight points in 2025, returning to lows observed between 2017 and 2020, with declines sharpest among U.S. allies. Meanwhile, China’s approval rose to its highest level in years, surpassing the U.S. by five points in 2025. The survey also noted that nearly half of all countries surveyed (45%) gave negative net approval to both the U.S. and China, marking one of the most negative global sentiments toward both powers in two decades.