Independents alone pushed socialism’s rating to 45% positive

A Gallup poll released Wednesday found that more than 40% of Americans now view socialism positively — the first time the share has exceeded 39% in Gallup’s tracking since the firm began measuring the trend in 2010. Socialism now ranks ahead of big business in positive ratings among the five economic concepts Gallup tracks.

The rise comes against a backdrop of mostly declining positive views of the other concepts Gallup measures. Small business remains nearly universally popular, with positive views essentially unchanged since 2010 at 95%. Positive views of capitalism have fallen six percentage points to 55%, free enterprise has dropped nine points to 77%, and big business has fallen 14 points to 35%, according to Gallup.

The latest jump in positive views of socialism came entirely from political independents, whose rating rose from 37% last year to 45%, Gallup said. Democrats’ rating remained essentially unchanged at 65%, while Republicans’ stayed below 15%.

The longer-running rise through 2025 was driven largely by Democrats, whose positive rating climbed from 50% in 2010 to 66% last year: “Most of the increase in socialism’s positive rating through 2025 reflected increasingly positive views among Democrats, rising from 50% in 2010 to 66% last year,” Gallup said.

The poll also shows sharp age, gender, racial and ethnic, and income differences. Americans ages 18 to 34 view socialism (57%) more positively than capitalism (43%), while those 55 and older view capitalism (65%) more positively than socialism (34%). Those ages 35 to 54 view the two about the same. Men tend to view capitalism more positively than socialism, a pattern reversed for women, and upper-income Americans are more positive than lower-income Americans toward capitalism and free enterprise.

Gallup cautioned that the trends “don’t indicate wholesale movement away from markets and toward socialism.” Small business remains near-universally popular, and free enterprise continues to receive broadly positive ratings — including among Democrats and younger adults, who are more positive toward socialism than other groups, the firm said. Recent research shows “a more nuanced picture,” Gallup said, with “widespread support for free-market principles such as economic competition and market choice, even as Americans express concerns about capitalism’s potential to produce inequality and excessive corporate power.”

Gallup surveyed 1,200 adults between Aug. 3 and 24 with a 4% margin of error.