Public Resource
Poll: 2025: The public’s priorities and expectations
AP and NORC
More Democrats name climate/environment as a top priority for the country in 2025 than any other issue. In an open-ended question that allowed respondents to volunteer up to five priorities, AP-NORC finds that more Americans name immigration (47%) as a top priority for the country in 2025 than any other single issue. It’s important to note that the economy (30%) and inflation (29%) would rank as the public’s top priority if combined together, though the AP-NORC analysis separates these into distinct issues. Foreign policy (35%) also ranks among Americans’ biggest issue concerns, and climate/environment (21%) ranked fifth on the list in terms of overall mentions – slightly ahead of other common priorities including health care (17%), education/student debt (16%), and abortion/women’s rights (16%). Democrats are more likely to name the environment/climate change (36%) as a top priority for the country than any other issue. This is consistent with past research, as AP-NORC also found that climate/environment ranked as Democrats’ biggest issue priority going into 2023 and 2024.