Gallup Poll: Healthcare Professions Most Trusted in U.S.

According to a new Gallup poll released this week, 76% of Americans consider nurses highly honest and ethical, making them the most trusted of 23 professions rated by Gallup in their annual poll conducted December 2-18, 2024. 

America’s nurses have held this distinction nearly every year for the last 23 years, since the Gallup added the profession to the annual survey in 1999. Other healthcare professions ranked high in honesty and ethics, including pharmacists (57% high/very high) and medical doctors (53% high/very high).

Key data points released by Gallup include:

  • Trust in medical doctors has fallen 14 percentage points since 2021. While it was at a historical high of 77% in 2020, it has fallen to 53% which is the lowest since the mid-1990s, yet still high compared to other professions.
  • Ratings for day care providers, pharmacists, and nurses have all dropped following strong reviews during year one or year two of the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the Gallup report, “Despite declining public trust in most professions over the past quarter century, the rank order has stayed largely the same, with nurses at the top, followed by grade-school teachers, military officers, pharmacists and medical doctors.”

Though they are the most trusted profession, constraints on nursing schools and within the workforce have led to a serious shortage of nurses. The Healthcare Workforce Coalition calls on Congress and the incoming Trump Administration to invest in bolstering the pipeline of nurses entering and staying in the workforce. 

To read more about the Gallup poll, click here.