As the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding approaches, two-thirds of U.S. adults say they’re proud to be American – but a majority of Democrats say they’d rather live in another country, a new national survey reveals.
Fully 68% of U.S. adults agree that “I am proud to be an American,” including half (48%) who say it’s “very true” that they’re a proud American, Elon University reported Tuesday, releasing results of its America 250 public opinion poll.
Nearly all Republican adults (95%) say they’re personally proud to be an American, compared to 62% of Independents and 48% of Democrats.
By age group, younger adults are the least likely to call themselves proud to be an American, as that sentiment rises from 59% of those under 30 to 78% of those who are at least 62 years old.
The poll also asked the following question:
“When you think about the United States turning 250 years old, which of the following best describes how you feel?”
“Proud” was the top answer (38%), followed by “No strong feelings” (21%).
Again, however, the youngest adults were less likely to feel pride (33%) than were the oldest (43%).
And, once more, Republicans (68%) and Independents (32%) were far more likely than Democrats (18%) to express pride in the nation’s longevity.
“Grateful” was the third most-popular feeling (17%) about the nation’s 250th anniversary among all U.S. adults.
Democrats are so sour on America that a majority would rather live somewhere else, the survey found.
When asked if there is “any other country on Earth you would rather live in than the United States today,” 55% of Democrat adults said “Yes.” In contrast, 90% of Republicans and 62% of Independents said “No,” they’d prefer to stay in the U.S.
Among adults under 30 years old, 41% said they’d rather be living somewhere else, while 73% of the oldest adults said they would not want to live in any other country.
In all, about two-thirds (65%) of adults said there’s no place else they’d rather be.
Nearly half of Republicans (45%) said they think America 250 should be “more about celebration of the nation’s achievements,” while 79% of Democrats and 70% of Independents said it should be “more about reflection on our history and values,” which would open the door for criticism.
The findings of higher negativity towards America among Democrats and younger adults are supported by the results of other national surveys. In the case of younger Americans, the elevated level of negativity is often attributed to a shift that has taken place in the nation’s educational system, as Associate Professor at Southern Methodist University Matthew Wilson explained while commenting on the findings of a Deseret News-Hinckley Institute survey:
“Wilson argued that there have been significant changes in curriculum that have put more emphasis on the problematic, unfortunate aspects about America’s history and systems and their shortcomings. Younger Americans haven’t been socialized with the same sort of positive messaging as their parents or grandparents and Wilson said he thinks it shows up in the data, including in the Deseret News-Hinckley Institute surveys.”
Still, younger adults were actually the most optimistic group about the effect the 250th anniversary will have on the nation’s unity.
When asked if America 250 is “more likely to bring Americans together” or to “deepen divisions,” half (48%) of adults under 30 predicted that it’ll bring people together, compared to 40% of those 30-45 and 31% of adults 62 or older. Only 10% of the youngest adults said they expect America 250 to “deepen divisions,” while nearly 19% of the oldest were that pessimistic.
And, while a 57% majority of Republicans said the 250th anniversary will bring Americans closer, only 22% of Democrats agreed – and even more (24%) said it’ll further divide people. Overall, 37% of adults said they believe it will bring Americans together, 48% said it’ll “have little effect” and just 15% said America 250 will deepen divisions.
The Elon University poll also asked adults how much they agree with the following quote:
“This is a republic of proud citizens who are united by our common conviction that America is the greatest nation in all of history.”
More than half (56%) of adults said they agree, including 27% who said they “strongly” agree with the sentiment. A quarter (25%) said they neither agree nor disagree. One in five (20%) said they disagree (8% “strongly).
Nearly half (47%) of Republicans said they strongly agree that America is the greatest nation and a proud republic – three times the 16% of Democrats who said they felt that way. Fully, 76% of Republicans, 49% of Independents and 45% of Democrats said they at least somewhat agree with the statement.
What they weren’t told was that the quote was from President Donald Trump.
Elon University’s America 250 National Survey of U.S. adults aged 18 and over was conducted between April 30 and May 4, 2026, developed by the Elon University Poll and by fielded by YouGov as an online, web-based survey.
