25 years later, the impact of 9/11 continues to resonate with Americans

Washington, D.C., September 8, 2026 – As the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks approaches, a new Ipsos poll finds most Americans feel the attacks had a major impact on both the U.S. and the world.

Large majorities of Americans say the attacks impacted the U.S. (88%) and the world (71%) a great deal or quite a bit. More than half say the same of their generation (57%), while three in ten think this level of impact extends to them personally (29%) or their family (26%).

Americans are split on how safe the country is from foreign terrorist attacks compared to before 9/11. Roughly a third (36%) hold the view that the country is about as safe as it was before 9/11, while 32% say the U.S. is more safe and 29% say it is less safe.

Three in four (75%) Americans report that they personally remember where they were when they heard news about the attacks. When asked what the most important historic events are in their lifetime, 47% cite the 9/11 attacks, with the COVID-19 pandemic a distant second (31%). However, there are major differences by age: just a third of Americans under age 35 (33%) cite the 9/11 attacks as one of the most important historical events in their lifetime, compared to a slim majority of their older counterparts (56% among those ages 35-49, 51% among those ages 50-64, 50% among those 65 and older).

About the Study

This Ipsos poll was conducted by Ipsos between August 21-23, 2026, using the probability-based KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,013 general population adults aged 18 or older.

The study was conducted in English. The data were weighted to adjust for gender by age, race and ethnicity, census region, metropolitan status, education, household income, 2024 vote choice, and political party identification. Political party identification benchmarks are from the 2026 NPORS annual survey. The demographic benchmarks came from the 2025 March supplement of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS).

• Gender (Male, Female) by Age (18–29, 30–44, 45-59 and 60+)
• Race/Hispanic Ethnicity (White Non-Hispanic, Black Non-Hispanic, Other, Non-Hispanic, Hispanic, 2+ Races, Non-Hispanic)
• Education (Less than High School, High School, Some College, Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree or higher)
• Census Region (Northeast, Midwest, South, West)
• Metropolitan status (Metro, non-Metro)
• Household Income (Under $25,000, $25,000-$49,999, $50,000-$74,999, $75,000-$99,999, $100,000-$149,999, $150,000+)
• 2024 Vote Choice (Trump, Harris, Another candidate, Did not vote)
• Political Party ID (Democrat, Lean Democrat, Republican, Lean Republican, Independent/Something else)

The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults. The margin of sampling error takes into account the design effect, which was 1.26. The margin of sampling error is higher and varies for results based on sub-samples. In our reporting of the findings, percentage points are rounded off to the nearest whole number. As a result, percentages in a given table column may total slightly higher or lower than 100%. In questions that permit multiple responses, columns may total substantially more than 100%, depending on the number of different responses offered by each respondent.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Alec Tyson
Senior Vice President, US
Public Affairs
[email protected]

Johnny Sawyer
Senior Research Manager, US
Public Affairs
[email protected]

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