On a scale from 0 to 10 — where zero is your worst possible life and 10 is the best — where do you expect to find yourself five years from now?
That tough question makes you think about the kind of life you’re currently living, your hopes and dreams for the future, and even the state of the country and world and how that might affect you.
Gallup has been asking that question as part of its National Health and Well-Being Index for the past 20 years. And in 2025, those results hit a record low: fewer adults in the United States feel good about the future. This data shows that, for many Americans, it’s challenging to envision a future that will bring about a better life. This loss of hope doesn’t just impact us as individuals; it affects our communities and the collective future we all hope for: one conducive to well-being for all.
What the Poll Says
The Gallup National Health and Well-Being Index surveys over 20,000 U.S. adults throughout the year, across five elements of well-being (career, social, financial, physical, and community). In the portion of the survey assessing current and future life satisfaction, respondents rate their present life and their life in five years on a scale from 0 to 10.
Here are some significant findings from 2025:
- Just 59.2% of U.S. adults believe their lives in five years will be at 7 or better; this is the lowest number since the survey began in 2008.
- Future life ratings have decreased about 9% since 2020, meaning that almost 25 million fewer people are optimistic about the future in 2025 than in 2020.
- The drop in future life satisfaction from 2024 to 2025 was the largest among Hispanic adults.
- Current life ratings also sit at an almost record low (second only to 2020).
- Less than half of U.S. adults (48%) are what Gallup considers “thriving” (rating their current life at 7 or higher and future life at 8 or higher).
Why We’re Losing Hope
So what’s the deal with this recent drop in optimism and hope? “When fewer U.S. adults rate their future highly compared to prior years, it tells us something important about the emotional climate people are living in,” says Dr. Robyne Hanley‑Dafoe, resiliency expert and author of I Hope So: How to Choose Hope, Even When It Is Hard.
“Over the past several years, individuals have navigated prolonged uncertainty, economic pressure, political division, social unrest, and collective fatigue,” she shares. That type of stress changes how you view the future. Instead of being excited for it, you can become scared of or even threatened by it.
Why Hope Matters
Hope is not the blind expectation that the future will be better. It is the belief that the future can be better, and in the power of agency and action.
“Hope is not naïve. It is strategic. And in moments like this, it is one of our most important psychological resources,” Dr. Robyne explains.
She says research consistently shows that hopeful individuals cope better with stress, demonstrate greater perseverance and resilience, and experience better well-being outcomes. Having hope can help us navigate hardship and challenge, improving the chances of achieving goals and dreams.
While hearing that hope in the U.S. is at a record low may make you even less, well, hopeful, Dr. Robyne encourages us to see it differently: “It would be a mistake to conclude that hope is disappearing,” she says.
“In my work, I see something different. I see people craving hope. I see people searching for ways to rebuild their sense of direction and possibility.” What is essential about this moment, especially given these findings, is that individuals and communities are shown that hope can be restored and cultivated through intentional action.
Steps to Restore Hope
Restoring a sense of hope in our society may seem daunting, but even small steps every day can help hope blossom.
Cultivate Agency. Restoring a sense of agency is key to reigniting hope, Dr. Robyne says. One simple way to do that is to set small goals that align with your personal values. When we demonstrate to ourselves that we can influence outcomes by accomplishing small goals, we reinforce that essential sense of agency.
Prioritize Connection. Connection, connection, connection. It’s what the research says is crucial to a life well lived (see The Harvard Study of Adult Development) and what Dr. Robyne believes is critical to restoring hope. Sharing a space and sharing stories become powerful steps in helping us imagine a better future and trust that it can come to fruition.
“When we share stories of effort, recovery, and forward movement, we normalize struggle and model possibility. Communities that emphasize shared responsibility and collective action create the conditions where hope can take root and strengthen,” Dr. Robyne explains.
Let this data act as a wake-up call — a call to begin prioritizing hope again, to once again believe in our own agency, to share stories of possibility and action, and to embrace hope for ourselves and nurture it in our communities.
