United States: trust in people and professions 2023 | Statista (2024)

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United States: trust in people and professions 2023 | Statista? ›

According to a survey conducted in 31 countries, doctors are the world's most trusted profession. In the United States, teachers ranked as the most trusted people. As of 2023, 58 percent of American respondents trusted teachers, while doctors were the second most trusted group by people in the United States.

— Trust slipping across nearly all professions, Gallup poll finds. Nurses remained the most trusted profession in the U.S., while medical doctors dropped to the fifth spot, according to Gallup's 2023 Honesty and Ethics pollopens in a new tab or window.

Where Nurses Can Lead in 2024. Nurses have once again been voted the most trusted professionals. Find out how nurses can leverage their positions and lead the pursuit for change.

Who is at the top of the list? Not surprisingly, nurses are the most trusted, with 78 percent of those surveyed saying they believe nurses have high levels of honesty and ethics.

Most trusted people and professions 2023

As of 2023, 58 percent of respondents indicated doctors are the most trustworthy among a group of various professions, leaders, and ordinary people. Scientists and teachers followed in the ranking.

Doctors, who are still the most trustworthy, slid by five percentage points (from 64% in 2021 to 59% in 2022), while the trustworthiness of both scientists and teachers dipped by 4% and 3% (respectively 61% and 55% in the previous survey).

The American public rated nurses the highest among a host of professionals, including medical doctors, engineers, and veterinarians.

Nurses remain the most trusted profession, with 78% of U.S. adults currently believing nurses have high honesty and ethical standards.

What is the most honorable profession? ›

Someone with a lack of trust will generally: Question people's intentions regularly. Frequently assume the worst about others. Assume that others will let them down.

The best profession in the world is based on the individuals' skills, experience, qualifications. Some of the best professions in the world are Doctor, Software Developer, Financial Analyst, Data Scientist, Corporate Lawyer, Airline Pilot, Management Consultant, Investment Banker, Petroleum Engineer.

Nurses have been the highest scoring profession since 2016 when they were first included in the survey and they came first once again this time around, trusted by 94% of the public.

In a Gallup poll, Americans rated nurses as being the most honest and ethical, followed by veterinarians, engineers, dentists, and then doctors.

Doctors, scientists, and farmers are the most respected jobs. Reality TV stars and politicians attracted the least respect. The top factors that make a job respectable are caring for others, trustworthiness, and being essential to society.

Table showing ethics ratings for 23 professions ranked in 2023. Nurses are the top-rated profession with 78% of U.S. adults saying they have very high or high honesty and ethical standards. Data from 2019 and 2022 are also shown for the professions that were included in those years.