Americans' perceptions of corruption in the federal government have reached their highest level in two decades, with nearly nine in 10 adults saying corruption is widespread, according to new Gallup polling.
The survey found that 89% of U.S. adults believe government corruption is widespread, up 10 percentage points from last year and significantly higher than the 72% to 79% range recorded between 2010 and 2025.
The increase has been driven largely by Democrats, whose perceptions of widespread government corruption have risen sharply since President Donald Trump returned to the White House.
In 2024, former President Joe Biden's final full year in office, 57% of Democrats said government corruption was widespread. That figure climbed to 76% in 2025, Trump's first year back in office, before surging to 91% this year.
Political independents showed a similar shift, with 90% saying government corruption is widespread, up 12 points from 2024.
Republicans' views have changed considerably less. Eighty-three percent now say government corruption is widespread, compared with 87% in 2024. About eight in 10 Republicans have held that view during each of the past two years.
The Gallup poll was conducted by telephone from May 1 to June 10 among a random sample of 1,000 Americans ages 15 and older. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.
Gallup said the partisan trends suggest Democrats' perceptions are more closely tied to which party controls the White House, while Republicans appear to hold a more consistent view that government is broadly corrupt regardless of which party is in power.
The results show a widening gap between the United States and other advanced economies.
Gallup polling across the 38 member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development found the median share of adults who viewed government corruption as widespread declined from 69% in 2009 to below 60% beginning in 2022.
Complete 2026 data are not yet available for all OECD countries, but the median stood at 59% in 2025. The U.S. figure was 79% that year, 20 percentage points above the OECD median and the highest level of perceived government corruption among OECD countries.
The gap could grow further once complete international data for 2026 are available, given that the U.S. figure has increased to 89%.
The United States also ranks near the top globally. Since 2023, only four of the 132 countries where Gallup has asked the question annually have recorded figures nominally higher than the current U.S. level: Lebanon at 92% in 2024, Peru at 92% in 2025, and Ghana and Nigeria at 90% in 2024.
Americans also increasingly perceive corruption as widespread in business, although the figure remains substantially lower than for government.
Seventy-one percent of Americans said corruption is widespread in U.S. businesses, an eight-point increase from last year. That leaves an 18-point gap between perceptions of corruption in government and business, the largest Gallup has recorded in the United States since it began tracking the measures in 2006.
Between 2006 and 2025, perceptions of government corruption averaged 11 points higher than perceptions of business corruption.
The latest findings also show broad agreement among Americans despite political divisions. With 91% of Democrats, 90% of independents, and 83% of Republicans now saying government corruption is widespread, large majorities across the political spectrum share that perception.
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