2025 gets the rating it deserves from Americans: Between 6 and 7
The Ipsos Consumer Tracker asks Americans questions about culture, the economy and the forces that shape our lives. Here's one thing we learned this week.
Why we asked: One of the questions we have consistently tracked in the not-very-letter-of-the-law-named “tracker” is how we rate the year behind and the year ahead. In the final wave each year we ask folks to look back.
What we found: It is entirely fitting that when asked to rate 2025, the means landed between a 6 and 7. (Those with kids and teenagers will see what I did there… I’ll see myself out, now.)
On all levels, from close in “me personally” and “my job” out to “the country” we saw a small dip in how we rated the year. It wasn’t 2020 bad, but not as good as 2024. Which means that the year fell far short of expectations.
In January we asked people to pre-rate 2025. The final rankings were about half a point off where we had hoped things would wind up. We were measured in our optimism. Nothing was anticipated to be above a 7 of 10. But here we are, underperforming. Younger Americans were especially underwhelmed by the year. And Democrats’ view of “my country” fell off a cliff from 5.2 last year to a dismal 3.5 this year. That was not counter-balanced by an uptick in Republican enthusiasm from 4.9 to 5.8. Most (56%) of Democrats gave it a 1 or a 2. Ouch.
More insights from this wave of the Ipsos Consumer Tracker:
Why Americans will be happy with their gifts this holiday season
Americans resolve to make 2026 better
The Ipsos Vibe Check: Here's how Americans feel about the government this week
The Ipsos Care-o-Meter: What does America know about vs. what does America care about?
