Fox News survey shows American voter outlook on 2025 improved from 2024

As 2025 draws to a close, voters’ views on the end of the year have changed That’s an improvement not only compared to 2024, but also year-over-year since 2020, according to the latest Fox News poll released Friday. Nearly half say this has been a good year for them personally, and even fewer, about a third, say it’s been good for the country, according to the latest Fox News poll released Friday. The upward change reflects a gradual recovery in optimism since the pandemic-era lows, although concerns remain about the country’s future and affording holiday gifts.

Almost half of voters, or 45 percent, say 2025 is a good year for them. This is an increase from 40% last year and the highest level since 2019, when it was 47%. At the same time, 54% say this was a bad year for their family; This rate was 50% compared to last year.

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A record low 23% said 2020 was a good year for their family. In fact, the 2020 pandemic was the first time in nearly a decade that the issue turned negative: From 2012 to 2019, voters felt more positive than negative.

While still largely negative, views on how the country will perform in 2025 are also more positive than in recent years. Thirty-five percent say this year is a good year for the United States, up 28% from last year. Two-thirds think it was a bad year for the country; this figure has remained stable since 2022, rising to 78% in 2020.

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Republicans (65% families, 63% country) are more likely than Democrats (28%, 9%) and independents (39%, 28%) to be optimistic about 2025 and say it’s a good year personally and nationally.

Positivity among Republicans (+31 points for their family, +44 points for the country) and independents (+6, +7) has risen since 2024, while scores for Democrats have fallen (-22, -33).

“Obviously, a lot of the shifts from 2024 to 2025 are driven by partisan reactions to the transition from Democratic to Republican rule,” said Daron Shaw, a Republican pollster who helps conduct Fox News polls with his Democratic partner Chris Anderson. “It’s not about prices changing or wages changing, it’s about Republicans feeling better with their man in the White House and Democrats feeling worse.”

Evaluations of 2025 are more positive for men than for women, for voters with a college degree than for those without a degree, and for households with an income of $50,000 or more than low-income voters.

But voters are divided on the future of the United States: 48% hopeful, 52% not; This means a net negative of 4 points; a reversal of last year’s +10 positive rating (55% hopeful, 45% not hopeful).

Still, these numbers are better than in 2021 (when the question was first asked), when 43% were hopeful about the next step and 54% were not hopeful (-11 net negative rating).

Just as views on the past differ depending on political parties, expectations for the future also differ. While three-quarters of Republicans are hopeful about the future, three-quarters of Democrats say they are not. Independents are also negative; Approximately 6 out of 10 people lack hope.

Although Republicans feel good about 2025, optimism about the future is down 11 points from last year’s 86%, while pessimism for Democrats and independents remains as high or higher than in 2024.

This is in stark contrast to four years ago, when about 6 in 10 Democrats were hopeful, while about 7 in 10 Republicans and 6 in 10 independents were not hopeful.

One more thing…

As the holiday season is in full swing, shoppers’ concerns are increasing; More than half are worried about how they will pay for gifts this year (52%), while just under half are not worried (48%).

Concern is greatest among mothers (68%), voters under 30 (68%), Hispanic voters (66%), women without a college degree (64%) and households making under $50,000 (62%).

These financial pressures may help explain why most voters (81%) say it’s okay at least sometimes to regift something given to them: 62% think it’s okay sometimes, while 19% say it’s always acceptable. 19 percent think this will never be a problem.

Acceptance of regifting has increased since 2013; 73 percent said it was okay at least sometimes, and a quarter said it was never acceptable.

White women, voters under 45, those with a master’s degree, parents and Republicans are among those most likely to say regifting is acceptable today.

This Fox News study, conducted Dec. 12-15, 2025, under the direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), included interviews with a sample of 1,001 registered voters randomly selected from the national voter file. Participants spoke to live interviewers from landlines (116) and mobile phones (630) or completed the survey online after receiving a message (255). Results based on the full sample have a margin of sampling error of ±3 percentage points. Sampling error for results between subgroups is higher. In addition to sampling error, question wording and order can also affect the results. Weights are often applied to variables such as age, race, education, and district to ensure that demographic characteristics are representative of the registered voter population. Sources for developing weight targets include the most recent American Community Survey, Fox News Voter Analysis, and voter file data.