Public satisfaction with life in America reaches its highest level in 15 years: Gallup poll

Political disagreements and other concerns may not have as much cultural influence on the overall public as we think.

“Forty-one percent of Americans are satisfied with the way things are going in the U.S., a level not seen in nearly 15 years,” said a new Gallup poll released Tuesday.

The benchmark level of satisfaction has occurred at a time when the public also has the most positive feelings about the economy in two decades, the pollster found.

“Since Gallup began measuring national satisfaction in 1979, 37% of Americans, on average, have been satisfied,” wrote analyst Jeffrey M. Jones.

There is a predictable partisan divide, however. The survey also found that 72% of Republicans are happy with the current state of the nation compared to 37% of independents and 14% of Democrats.

There’s also a gender divide: 51% of men are content with the state of the nation while 31% of women are not.