Three in four Americans consider nurses highly honest and ethical, making them the most trusted of 23 professions rated in Gallup’s annual measurement. Grade-school teachers rank second, with 61% viewing them highly, while military officers, pharmacists and medical doctors also earn high trust from majorities of Americans.
The least trusted professions, with more than half of U.S. adults saying their ethics are low or very low, are lobbyists, members of Congress and TV reporters.
Of the remaining occupations measured in the Dec. 2-18, 2024, poll, six (including police officers, clergy and judges) are viewed more positively than negatively by Americans, although with positive ratings not reaching the majority level. The other nine, notably including bankers, lawyers and business executives, are seen more negatively than positively, with no more than 50% rating their ethics low.
Today’s rank-order aligns with the public’s evaluations of U.S. occupations for the past two decades. Over this period, medical practitioners, grade-school teachers and military officers have been the most trusted professions, while political, sales, business and media-related jobs have constituted the least.
Nurses have earned the highest rating in every year but one since Gallup added them to the annual survey in 1999. The exception was 2001, when firefighters -- included only that year -- earned a record 90% trust rating after their heroism in responding to the 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers.
Although trust in the police has varied over the years, the percentage of Americans expressing high trust in them is currently 15 points lower than it was in the 2000s. Grade-school teachers, medical doctors, pharmacists and bankers have also seen double-digit declines over the same period.
Trust in several other professions is down modestly, including TV reporters, whose nine-point slide since the 2000s reflects the decline in Americans’ broader confidence in the news media. Americans’ trust in newspaper reporters, advertising practitioners, nursing home operators and lobbyists has been consistently low over the years, with little change.
Auto mechanics are the lone profession experiencing improved ratings since the 2000s, rising from 24% during that decade to 33% in 2024. Most of this shift occurred between 2001 and 2017, but it has held in two readings since then. While the reason for the change isn’t clear, it’s notable that all major subgroups of Americans have warmed to this profession.
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