The most trusted professions

For the poll, Gallup surveyed a random sample of 1,003 U.S. adults ages 18 and older across all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia between Dec. 2 and Dec. 18, 2024. Respondents were asked to rate the honesty and ethical standards of people in different professions.

Overall, nurses were ranked as the most trusted profession in the United States, with 76% of respondents saying that nurses had "high" or "very high" honesty and ethics. Since 1999, nurses have been ranked as the most trusted profession every year except for 2001 when firefighters took the top spot after the 9/11 attacks.

"[N]urses are incredibly honored that the sacred bond of trust we have with our patients has once again been recognized in the Gallup poll," said Nancy Hagans, president of National Nurses United.

Similarly, Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, president of the American Nurses Association, said that "[t]his acknowledgement is an undeniable reflection of the positive impact nurses have on the patients they diligently care for and on the healthcare system they support."

Other professions that received the most positive ratings on ethics and honesty include grade-school teachers (61%), military officers (59%), pharmacists (57%), and medical doctors (53%). In comparison, the professions that had majority negative ratings were TV reporters (13%), members of Congress (8%), and lobbyists (4%). 

A decline in trust over the years

According to Gallup, the average very high/high ethics ratings of the 11 core professions included in the poll have declined over the years, going from 40% or higher in the early 2000s to around 35% during most of the 2010s. Although the average rating increased slightly in 2020 to 38%, it has continued to decline each year since then, reaching an average of 30% in 2023 and remaining the same in 2024.

Although most medical professions continue to be highly rated, there has been a significant decline in their ratings in recent years, with some seeing their ratings fall below their pre-pandemic averages. For example, trust in medical doctors has decreased by 14 percentage points since 2021, falling from 77% in 2020 to 53% in 2024. This is the lowest rating doctors have received since the mid-1990s. 

Overall, "Americans interact with numerous professionals in their daily lives, while depending on others they've never met to maintain an efficient, fair and secure society," Gallup writes. "Whether reflecting personal experience or secondhand reports, Americans' sense of how much they can trust each profession varies widely, likely influencing how they engage with each."