Ahead of America’s 250th anniversary, new polling shows growing pessimism across racial, political, and income groups about the country’s future.
Ahead of the United States’ 250th anniversary, 59% of Americans say the country’s best years are behind us, while 40% say its best years are ahead.
Americans are also much more pessimistic (44%) than optimistic (28%) when asked to think about what things will be like in the U.S. 50 years from now. Another 27% are neither optimistic nor pessimistic, according to a December 2025 Pew Research Center survey.
Views on whether the country’s best years are behind or ahead of us differ somewhat across demographic and political groups.
Majorities of Black (66%), Hispanic (64%) and White adults (57%) say the country’s best years are behind us, as do 53% of Asian adults.
Majorities of adults with lower and middle incomes say the country’s best years are behind us (61% each). Upper-income adults are evenly split: Half say the nation’s best years are behind us and half say its best years are still to come.
Democrats and those who lean toward the Democratic Party are more likely to say the country’s best years are behind us (64%) rather than ahead (34%). Republicans and Republican leaners are more evenly divided: 53% say the country’s best years are behind us, while 46% say they’re ahead.
Views on this question at least partly reflect the political dynamics of the moment. When we asked this same question in a 2014 telephone survey – when the Democratic Party held the White House and the U.S. Senate – Democrats were more likely than Republicans to say the country’s best years were in the future (57% vs. 32%). Most Republicans (64%) said the country’s best years had passed.
