Research Guides: Political Opinion & Survey Data Sources: U.S. Public Opinion

Broad Public Opinion Archives

Roper iPoll Survey Database This link opens in a new window
Largest collection of public opinion poll data, 1935-present. Contains more than 825,000 searchable questions and over 25,000 datasets from both U.S. and international polling organizations. Topics include social issues, politics, pop culture, international affairs, science, the environment, and much more. When available, results charts, demographic crosstabs, time-series trends, and full datasets are provided for immediate download. Registration is required but free using your Princeton email. Many of iPoll's international surveys are not searchable at the question level, but downloadable as full datasets. See also Roper's Featured Projects, including their Health Poll Database and Researching Black American opinion.

Odum Institute
The Odum Institute has a large archive of public opinion data, including more than 1,000 Harris Polls from as early as 1958, the National Network of State Polls collection (775 studies from more than 25 states), the Carolina Poll (1977–2005), Monmouth University Polling Institute polls (2011+), the Southern Focus Poll (1992–2001), and some USA Today polls (1984–1993).

ICPSR (Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research) This link opens in a new window
ICPSR is the world's largest archive of digital social science data. You can search their data holdings by keyword or browse by thematic categories. They archive many surveys and exit polls.
Must register for an account in order to download data. Restricted to academic research by Princeton University faculty and students.

You can find many topical public opinion surveys from our Data and Statistical Services (DSS) site.

For a guide to historical sources, both domestic and international, focused on question texts and summary statistics, see the Public Opinion Polls for Historians guide.

Major U.S. Political Opinion Sources

American National Election Studies (ANES), 1948+
Oldest continuous series of survey data investigating electoral behavior and attitudes in the United States (since 1948). ANES interviews are conducted before and after presidential elections and after midterm Congressional elections (1958-2002). Post-election interviews include questions on actual voting behavior. Click on "Data Center" at the top of the page to download the datasets for the various waves. Click on "Utilities" to browse/search lists of questions and variables. For quick online exploration use Berkeley's SDA service; for trend tables, like party ID by various demographics, see the ANES Guide to Public Opinion and Electoral Behavior.
Cooperative Election Study (CES), 2005+
Formerly known as the Cooperative Congressional Election Study (CCES), the CES is a 50,000+ person national stratified sample survey allowing analysis at the congressional district level. Half of the questionnaire consists of Common Content asked of all respondents (much of which remains the same each wave), and half of the questionnaire consists of Team Content designed by each participating team and asked of a subset of 1,000 people (generally not accessible). Topics include registration and voting, political knowledge, ideology, and policy preferences related to key issues on which Congress has taken roll call votes in the preceding two legislative sessions. Has both pre-election and post-election waves. Includes validated registration and turnout variables. Data exploration tools are available.
Pew Research Center, 1997+
The Pew Research Center is a "nonpartisan fact tank" conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis, and other empirical social science research around several broad themes: U.S. politics and policy, use and influence of the media, the role of the internet and technology, Hispanics in the U.S., the role of religion in public life in the U.S. and beyond, social & demographic trends in the U.S., and global attitudes. All data and reports can be browsed by topic, searched by question, and are freely downloadable. 1997-present. Many recent surveys are based on their American Trends Panel, a nationally representative, random panel sample that allows for longitudinal analysis.
AP-NORC polls
Collaboration between the Associated Press and the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. AP-NORC's polls are typically archived at Roper after about a year delay. More recent poll datasets are available on their website, typically with a 6 month embargo.
National, State, and Primary Election Exit Polls (1972+)
Questions about vote choice for president, Congress, gubernatorial races, important issues affecting the vote decision, presidential approval, and a number of current national, state, and local issues. Includes basic demographic variables, such as gender, race, education, income, and age. In most years, exit polls are only conducted in a selection of the states. Data is no longer restricted.

For 2018+, the collection includes AP VoteCast, which uses a random sample of registered voters to calibrate a massive poll (more than 130,000 registered voters) conducted using opt-in online panels rather than a traditional exit poll. (2018 also available via ICPSR.)

For aggregate statistics, see exit poll pages from major news outlets:
- 2022, 2020, 2018, 2016, 2014 (House only; includes breakdowns for House back to 1992), 2012
General Social Suvery (GSS) 1972+
The GSS is a long running survey of social, cultural and political indicators. Probably the single best source of data on societal trends. Includes questions on presidential vote choice, party ID, interest in politics, and more. You can download the full dataset or extracts, and you can also analyze it online using Berkeley's SDA service, which also has a Quick Tables feature to generate crosstabs of major trends, like party ID by demographics.
Time-Sharing Experiments for the Social Sciences (TESS)
TESS provides researchers with shared access to a nationally representative online sample to allow them to conduct randomized social science experiments. Many of these studies utilize surveys with experimental treatments. Each study contains a project proposal and experimental results data. This links to the curated TESS collection of individual questions at the Roper Center; for additional studies with their open data, visit the TESS website.
2022 Collaborative Midterm Survey
New survey to fill the gap left by ANES not fielding midterm surveys after 2002. Also designed to promote new methodological innovations in survey design to address falling response rates using multiple data teams and sampling/collection methods. Site provides numerous visualizations; microdata is archived at the Roper Center and is publicly available.
U.S. 2020 Facebook and Instagram Election Study
A partnership between Meta and independent academic researchers to understand the impact of Facebook and Instagram on key political attitudes and behaviors during the US 2020 election. Datasets measure participants' exposure, views, and engagement with posts that link to civic news domains. Researchers also partnered with NORC to survey participants about their political attitudes. Datasets are restricted and can be accessed via ICPSR's Virtual Data Enclave after approval of the required application by a PI with a terminal degree.

Panel Surveys

Democracy Fund VOTER Surveys, 2016-2021
The Views of the Electorate Research (VOTER) survey, conducted in partnership with YouGov, is a panel survey of about 6000 adults in 4 waves, 2016-2020 (drawn from respondents to a similar survey in 2011 and 2012). Includes measures of political attitudes, values, and affinities in 2011/12 as well as self-reports of turnout and vote choice in November 2012, 2016, and 2020.

The Nationscape survey, in collaboration with UCLA, includes 500,000 interviews from July 2019-Feb 2021, providing a "weekly look at how views took shape across time, place, and demographic groups in the lead-up to and aftermath" of the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Data in .csv, Stata, and SPSS formats.
Institute for the Study of Citizens and Politics Panel, 2012-2020
Multiple wave panel measuring various attitudes and political behaviors among a population-based panel of Americans who were at least 18 in 2008. The waves were administered by Knowledge Networks/GfK/Ipsos.
Rand American Life Panel Survey
Nationally representative, probability-based panel of over 6000 U.S. adults 18 and older. Panel members are provided with the technology to respond to surveys, so the panel is representative of the whole adult U.S. population, not just those with internet access. ALP has fielded over 450 surveys on multiple topics including more than 50 waves about the effects of the 2008 financial crisis, multiple waves on the Affordable Care Act, and multiple election surveys: a biweekly pre- and post-election survey of the 2008 presidential election, a 5 month Continuous 2012 Presidential Election Poll, a 6 wave 2014 midterm election survey, and a 6 wave 2016 Presidential Election Panel Survey (under embargo until Dec. 2017). Data (in Stata format) is free after registration. 2006+.
The American Panel Survey (TAPS)
TAPS is a monthly online survey of a national probability sample from a panel of about 2,000 adults in the United States with a high response and retention rate (approximately 75-80% of the TAPS Panel complete each TAPS wave during the year). Recurring questions include a battery of approval measures, economic evaluations, ideology and party identification, candidate evaluations, and major issues, such as immigration and the Supreme Court. Data may include questions fielded by additional researchers. 2011-2018. Data in Stata, SPSS, and R formats.
The 2016 USC Dornsife / LA Times Presidential Election Poll
Representative internet panel of about 3000 respondents were asked questions on the 2016 election about every 5 days from July to November. Data is freely available.
Cooperative Campaign Analysis Project (CCAP), 2008
A six-wave panel survey (sample size 20,000) of the American electorate (registered voters only) preceding and immediately after the 2008 Presidential elections. Participants from battle-ground states are overrepresented, so that each strata (battle-ground and non-battleground) makes 50% of the sample. More than 1700 variables measure attentiveness, issues, candidate assessment, vote intentions, presidential nominee preferences, media consumption, political information, religion, and demographics. Data in .csv, Stata, and SPSS. (Note: a 2012 survey was conducted but has not been released yet.)
National Annenberg Election Survey (NAES), 2000-2008
Large telephone and online survey of 30–60,000 adults that asks about attitudes and knowledge of candidates and political figures, current policy issues, media use, campaign discourse, political participation, and voting behavior, with an emphasis on issues of political communication. Data generally in SPSS or Stata formats. Includes a large sample of panel data.

Ballot/candidate and approval polls

Gallup Analytics This link opens in a new window
Includes presidential approval by state or MSA as well as by various demographics, 2009-2016. With the cessation of the U.S. Daily Poll, Gallup's ongoing presidential approval data is available via the Gallup Poll Social Series (see below).

State-level Presidential Approval, 1978-2011
Provides state-level estimates of presidential approval (plus 7 other policy issues) using multilevel regression, imputation, and poststratification (MRP) from annual national polls. See Pacheco, Julianna. 2014. "Measuring and Evaluating Changes in State Opinion across Eight Issues." American Politics Research 42(6): 986-1009 https://doi.org/10.1177/1532673X14524819. Data in Stata format.
U.S. Officials' Job Approval Ratings (JARs) Database
Approval ratings for U.S. state governors (1958-2009), U.S. Senators (1978-2009), and U.S. Presidents (1945-2009 by state; nearly all states covered from 1992-2008; select coverage for early years back to the mid-70s). Data collected by Thad Beyle, Lee Sigelman, and Richard Niemi and now hosted by Jennifer Jensen as part of the U.S. Officials' Job Approval Ratings (JARs) Database; in .xls format.
State Executive Approval Database, 1947-2020
An update to JARs that extends gubernatorial approval ratings from 1947-2020. Data includes year and month of the poll, state, party, governor last name, source, approval margins, net approval, and the relative approval rate.
Presidential Approval: National, 1937–present
Spreadsheet with nearly 6000 national presidential approval ratings, from FDR through Trump (as of Dec 2020). Earlier years are almost exclusively from Gallup; multiple sources from Bill Clinton forward. Data are at least quarterly for FDR, at least monthly through Reagan, and then at least weekly thereafter. In Excel format. Compiled by the Roper Center.
Presidential Approval: National (Vital Statistics on the Presidency), 1937–2012
This 4th ed. of Vital Statistics has several spreadsheets covering national presidential approval, including annual average, quarterly, weekly, and by month as well as some of those periods broken down by sex, race, income, education, region, and party.
Partisan Presidential Approval, 1946-2016
Data from Gallup's presidential approval measure and includes partisan approval from Truman through Obama. Mostly monthly in earlier periods, becoming more frequent over time. From Ghitza, Yair; Gelman, Andrew; Auerbach, Jonathan, 2022, "Replication Data for: The Great Society, Reagan's Revolution, and Generations of Presidential Voting." Data in R format.
Presidential Approval Trends
Curated trend data by the Roper Center of aggregate responses to presidential job approval on different issues (e.g., taxes, foreign policy, health care, etc.) back to George H. W. Bush. Data can be downloaded in Excel.
Congressional Approval, 1977-present
Over 600 aggregate approval trend observations curated by the Roper Center, 1977-present. Data can be downloaded in Excel. See also additional approval trends on Congress (e.g., opinion of Republican party or approval of Congressional Democrats).
Gallup Poll Social Series (GPSS)
A monthly survey incorporating many of Gallup's long-running trend questions. Topics are arranged thematically by month, but each month includes presidential approval. Weighted for a national sample, but includes respondent's state. Princeton has trend files from 2000-present. Gallup has information on methodology.
FiveThirtyEight's US Political Polls
Data behind the site's election polling analysis. Aggregates polling marginals from numerous pollsters for presidential primary and general election, Senate, House, governor, presidential approval, and generic ballot polls for the current (and sometimes previous) electoral cycle (generally not before 2016). Also data on polling averages for presidential primary (1980-2020) and presidential general election (1980-2020). Data in .csv.
RealClearPolitics Polls
Aggregates poll results on US elections (generic ballot, President, House, Senate, and governors) and approval. Click on "Quick Poll/Map Links" at top to see listings archived back to 2004).
Vote For President (Roper iPoll)
Link to search in Roper iPoll for polls on vote choice for president, 1935-present. Aggregate responses can be downloaded in Excel, 100 polls at a time.

Topical and Special Population Polls

Surveys on Race and Identity Politics in the U.S.
This listing on my American Politics guide includes major polls investigating political behavior, participation, and attitudes of racial and ethnic groups and youth.
Gallup Poll Social Series
Topics are arranged thematically across 12 monthly surveys. Gallup administers these surveys during the same month every year and includes the survey's core trend questions in the same order each administration. Princeton has trend files from 2000-2023:
1. Jan: Mood of the Nation
2. Feb: World Affairs
3. Mar: Environment
4. Apr: Economy and Personal Finance
5. May: Values and Beliefs
6. Jun: Minority Relations (ended in 2016; one-off in 2018) and Confidence in Institutions (1973-present)
7. Jul: Consumption
8. Aug: Work and Education
9. Sep: Governance
10. Oct: Crime
11. Nov: Health Care
12. Dec: Lifestyle (2001-2008) and Honesty and Ethics in Professions (1976-present)
13. We also have Gallup's Religion Battery, a consolidated list of items focused on religion in the US from 1999-2023
Gallup has information on methodology.
The 'Most Important Problem' Dataset (MIPD)
The Most Important Problem Dataset contains more than 832,000 Americans' responses to the "most important problem" question from over 600 surveys from 1939-2015. Responses are coded into a wide variety (58 at maximum) of issue areas that match issue classifications provided by Matthew Singer (2011), Manifesto Research on Political Representation (MARPOR), and the Comparative Agendas Project. Also codes a number of other contextual variables at the individual level (demographics, economic evaluations, political preferences, presidential approval, party competency) that make the dataset suitable for a variety of research purposes. There are 3 datasets: the individual level responses; aggregate percentages of respondents identifying a problem as the MIP monthly, quarterly, or annually; and a dataset with just the annual percentages. Data in Stata format.
Roper Center Featured Data Collections
The Roper Center features several unique dataset collections on a variety of topics, including family planning in the 60s and 70s, NORC polls from the early postwar and Cold War era, the Virginia Slims American Women's Opinion polls 1970-2000, public understanding of science funded by the NSF, and the UBS Index of Investor Optimism 1996-2007.
2018 American Institutional Confidence Poll
Conducted by scholars at Georgetown University and YouGov, the AIC poll assessed how age, race, education, geography, partisanship, and social media use correlate with confidence in American institutions, views on how well our democracy is working today, and support for democratic norms.
Berinsky & Schickler American Mass Public Study
More than 500 hundred early American public opinion polls (primarily from Gallup) archived at the Roper Center that have been reformatted, recoded, and re-weighted by Adam Berinsky and Eric Schickler to compensate for the non-probability (quota-controlled) sampling used before the 1950s.
Economic Inequality and Political Representation, 1964-2006 (Gilens)
Data from Martin Gilens's book Affluence and Influence of over 2,000 survey questions about a wide range of specific proposed policy changes (1964-2006). The degree of support for each of these proposed changes expressed by individuals in different income groups was then related to the subsequent policy outcomes showing that national policymakers are much more responsive to the policy preferences of the affluent than the middle class or the poor. Data in SPSS and Stata.
State of the First Amendment (1997 - 2006)
Collected data on Americans' attitudes towards First Amendment issues, including freedom of expression and tolerance for art that may be offensive to others.
Kaiser Family Foundation Polls
Questions and responses to health and healthcare surveys conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation back to 1994. Use the Search or Question Finder links at the top of the page. Data is in iPoll.
CivicPulse: Local Government Surveys
National surveys of local officials, often partnering with researchers and other experts. Samples a diverse representation of leaders from all 50 states and from small towns to large cities via an ongoing survey panel. Data freely accessible after registration; 2015-present.
SCOTUSPoll
Annual national survey of Americans’ attitudes on the major Supreme Court cases conducted by scholars from Harvard University, Stanford University, and The University of Texas at Austin. Nationally representative sample of 2000+ U.S. adults, 2020-present. Summary results only.
Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Long-running survey series since 1974 of Americans' attitudes about US foreign policy and global issues. Link is to data archived in iPoll; research reports are also available.

Multistate and Regional Polls

For additional state sources, see this list of academic & not-for-profit survey research organizations maintained by the U. of Illinois at Chicago Survey Research Laboratory.

Polling Report
State-by-state data from election and issue polling: campaign polls, media polls, academic polls, and polls by political, business and public-interest groups. For access to subscriber-only content, come see me.
SurveyUSA State & Local Polls
Survey organization which works primarily with local news stations to conduct polls. Contains a broad collection of polling results for states, cities, and Designated Market Areas (DMAs) back to the mid-2000s. Data are somewhat detailed cross-tabulations in HTML.
Quinnipiac University Polling Institute
Connecticut, Florida, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia. Also in IPOLL.
Pollster.com
Link to state indexes for various races. From Huffington Post
Public Policy Polling
State and national level polls on public policy issues. 2006+
Suffolk University Political Research Institute
Massacusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, Nevada, Colorado, California, Illinois, New Jersey, Missouri, Kentucky, Oregon and Indiana.

Alaska–Iowa

Arizona

Cronkite-Eight Poll 1996-2009

Arizona State University, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication

Arkansas

Arkansas Poll 1999+

University of Arkansas, Dept. of Political Science, Blair Center of Southern Politics and Society

California

Deliberative Polling®: California 2011

Stanford University, Dept. of Communication, Center for Deliberative Democracy,

The Field (California) Poll 1956+ (ended in 2016)

The Field Institute, San Francisco, CA

Orange County (California) Surveys

The Pacific Poll 2001

University of California - Irvine

Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) 1998+

Connecticut

University of Connecticut/Hartford Courant Poll 2012+

Delaware

National Agenda Opinion Poll 2013

University of Delaware, Center for Political Communication

Florida

FIU/Florida Poll 1988-2006

Statewide survey of 1,200 Florida residents.

Print publication by Florida International University Press for the years1989-1992

Prepared by the Institute for Public Opinion Research, School of Journalism and Mass Communication. "The survey research lab at IPOR at Florida International University ceased operation on May 31, 2011." [website]

Florida Omnibus Survey

Florida Opinion Research

Public Opinion Research Laboratory 2011+

University of North Florida

Results in press releases

Georgia

Burruss Poll 2010

Kennesaw State University, A.L. Burruss Institute of Public Service and Research

Results in news releases.

Peach State Poll 2001-2008

University of Georgia, Carl Vinson Institute of Government

Illinois

Illinois Opinion Monitor 2007+

University of Illinois, Institute of Government & Public Affairs

Illinois Policy Survey 1996+

Northern Illinois University, Center for Governmental Studies

Paul SImon Public Policy Institute Poll 2008+

Southern Illinois University

Southern Illinois Poll 2010+

Southern Illinois University

Iowa

The Des Moines Register Iowa Poll

In IPOLL

Hawkeye Poll 2009+

University of Iowa, Political Science Department

Kansas–North Carolina

Kansas

Kansas Speaks 2009+

Fort Hays State University, Docking Institute

Results published in reports.

Louisiana

Louisiana Survey 2011+

Louisiana State University

Maine

Maine People's Resource Center 2010+

Maryland

Goucher Poll 2012+

Goucher College

Results published in press releases.

Maryland Statewide Polls 2000+

Conducted by Gonzales Research & Marketing.

Results published in PDF.

Massachusetts

Boston Globe Poll 2005+

U. of New Hampshire, Survey Center

Findings released in PDF.

UMass Lowell Center for Public Opinion

Western New England University Polling Institute

Michigan

State of the State 1994+

Michigan State University, Institute for Public Policy & Social Research, Office for Survey Research

Minnesota

Humphrey Polling 2006+ (election years)

U. of Minnesota, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, Center for the Study of Politics and Governance

In IPOLL

Statewide Polls 1998+

St. Cloud State University

Findings and other documents presented in PDF.

Mississippi

Mississippi Poll1988+

Mississippi State University

Montana

Montana State University Billings Poll 1999+

Most current poll

Findings presented in PDF.

New Hampshire

Granite State Poll 2002+

University of New Hampshire

The New Hampshire Poll 1976+

American Research Group, Inc..

New Jersey

Eagleton Poll 1971+

Rutgers University

Fairleigh Dickenson University PublicMind Poll 2001+

Monmouth University Polling Institute Reports 2005+; Monmouth University Polling Dataverse 2011+

New York

Siena (College Research Institute) New York Poll 2005+

In IPOLL

Stonybrook University

In IPOLL

North Carolina

Carolina Issues Poll 2007-2012

Ohio–Wisconsin

Ohio

Ohio Poll 1981+

University of Cincinnati, Institute for Policy Research

Press releases with results available online 2009+

Ohio Poll 2013 +

Mercyhurst U., Center for Applied Politics (MCAP)

Oregon

Oregon Values & Beliefs Surveys 2013

"This project represents the third installment of the decennial Oregon Values and Beliefs Project, continuing and extending similar opinion research conducted in 1992 and 2002." [website]

Findings presented in PDF format.

Pennsylvania

Franklin and Marshall College Poll 1995+

Successor to the Keystone Poll

Muhlenberg College Polling Institute ~2003+

Rhode Island

Taubman Center Opinion Polls 1985+

Brown University

South Carolina

South Carolina State Surveys 1989-2009

U. of South Carolina

Questionnaires, frequencies, and data

Winthrop Poll 2006+

Tennessee

MTSU Poll 2001+

Vanderbilt Poll 2011+

Texas

Texas Lyceum Poll 2007+

UT-Austin/Texas Tribune poll 2008+

Utah

Utah Voter Poll 2006+

Brigham Young University, Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy

Utah Colleges Exit Poll 1982+ (biennial)

Brigham Young University, Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy

Vermont

Castleton (State College) Polling Institute 2012+

Vermonter Poll 1990+

University of Vermont

Virginia

Hampton U. Center for Public Policy Poll 2013

Institute for Policy and Opinion Research 1994+

Roanoke College

UMW Survey 2013

U. of Mary Washington Center for Leadership and Media Studies

Results published on web and in PDF. No information about archiving.

Virginia Tech Center for Survey Research (CSR) Published projects

Includes summaries of the Annual Survey of Quality of Life in the Commonwealth of Virginia (1993-2004), available in hard copy, Starting with the twelth (2002-2003) "All data from these annual surveys are archived by the National Network of State Polls housed at the University of North Carolina/Chapel Hill." [website]

Washington

The Washington Poll 2006+

University of Washington, Institute for the Study of Ethnicity, Race & Sexuality

Results published on the web, in Powerpoint, and PDF.

West Virginia

The West Virgina Poll 1980+

"Owned and operated by Repass & Partners, Inc., a marketing and opinion research firm." [website]

Data published in PDF from 2012+.

Wisconsin

The Badger Poll (2002-2011)

U. of Wisconsin Survey Center.

Marquette University Law School Poll 2012+

The Wisconsin Survey (1999-2017) (also via Internet Archive)

St. Norbert College Strategic Research Institute

UT-Austin/Texas Tribune

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Princeton University Library

Political Opinion & Survey Data Sources

Politics Librarian

Broad Public Opinion Archives

Major U.S. Political Opinion Sources

Panel Surveys

Ballot/candidate and approval polls

Topical and Special Population Polls

Multistate and Regional Polls

Alaska–Iowa

Kansas–North Carolina

Ohio–Wisconsin

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