Congress approval rating statistics at a glance
Congress approval is one of the clearest long-running snapshots of public mood in the United States. The trend line below shows how the rating moved across recent years and how often it stayed stuck in the teens or low twenties, even when the calendar changed.
Quick facts
- The latest reading in the dataset was 15% in Oct. 1-16, 2025 (Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs).
- The prior reading was 26% in Sep. 2-16, 2025 (Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs).
- The dataset includes 50 congressional approval readings spanning 1974 to 2025 (Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs; Gallup Congress approval trend PDF).
- The highest value in the dataset was 57% in Sep. 11-12, 1998 (Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs).
- The lowest value in the dataset was 9% in Nov. 7-10, 2013 (Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs).
Contents
- What the dataset shows
- Recent congressional approval readings
- How the highs and lows compare
- Reading the long decline
- What stands out by year
- Why the source labels matter
- Ways to use this data on an a congress website
What the dataset shows
The most immediate pattern is simple: congressional approval is usually low. Across the readings in this dataset, the values cluster well below 50%, and many of the recent points sit between 15% and 31% (Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs).
That matters because it gives a concrete baseline for any page focused on Congress. If your audience is scanning for the broad public mood, the data does not point to a sustained popularity rebound. It points to a repeated low-confidence environment, with occasional short-lived lifts.
A useful way to read the list is to separate it into three buckets:
- recent years, where the values mostly stay in the teens and twenties;
- the 2010s, where the series reaches some of its weakest points;
- the late 1990s and early 2000s, where the numbers are still stronger than the modern floor but not close to a durable majority.
Recent congressional approval readings
The recent sequence is the easiest place to see the current range. Here is the compact comparison for the latest readings in the dataset.
| Date | Congress approval | Source label |
|---|---|---|
| Oct. 1-16, 2025 | 15% | Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs |
| Sep. 2-16, 2025 | 26% | Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs |
| Aug. 1-20, 2025 | 24% | Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs |
| Jul. 7-21, 2025 | 26% | Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs |
| Jun. 2-19, 2025 | 23% | Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs |
| May 1-18, 2025 | 26% | Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs |
| Apr. 1-14, 2025 | 28% | Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs |
| Mar. 3-16, 2025 | 31% | Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs |
| Feb. 3-16, 2025 | 29% | Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs |
| Jan. 2-15, 2025 | 17% | Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs |
Two things stand out from this slice. First, the readings are volatile enough to move by more than 10 points across the year, from 31% in Mar. 3-16, 2025 down to 15% in Oct. 1-16, 2025 (Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs). Second, even the best 2025 reading in the dataset is only 31%, which still leaves Congress far from majority approval.
If you are building a page around congressional approval rating statistics, this is the cleanest hook: the story is not about a steady climb, but about repeated movement inside a low band. That makes the topic useful for timelines, trend explainers, and short data takeaways.
Recent readings in plain language
- Early 2025 opened at 17% in Jan. 2-15, 2025 (Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs).
- The series then moved through 29%, 31%, and 28% in February, March, and April 2025 (Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs).
- By late summer, the readings had settled back into the mid-twenties, with 24% in Aug. 1-20, 2025 and 26% in Sep. 2-16, 2025 (Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs).
- The latest point in the dataset dropped to 15% in Oct. 1-16, 2025 (Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs).
How the highs and lows compare
The long series gives you a useful spread between peaks and troughs. At the top end, Congress approval reached 57% in Sep. 11-12, 1998 and 56% in Dec. 2-4, 2000 (Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs). At the bottom end, the series includes 9% in Nov. 7-10, 2013 and 10% in Feb. 2-5, 2012 (Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs).
That range is large enough to show that public opinion about Congress can improve, but the improvement tends to be limited and uneven. The data also suggests that the modern era has seen much more time spent in low-teens or teens territory than in the 40s or 50s.
| Tier | Reading | Date | Source label |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | 57% | Sep. 11-12, 1998 | Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs |
| High | 56% | Dec. 2-4, 2000 | Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs |
| Middle-high | 41% | Dec. 5-8, 2004 | Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs |
| Middle-high | 39% | Mar. 5-8, 2009 | Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs |
| Low | 16% | Oct. 16-27, 2024 | Gallup Congress approval trend PDF |
| Low | 13% | Dec. 3-17, 2023 | Gallup Congress approval trend PDF |
| Lowest | 9% | Nov. 7-10, 2013 | Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs |
The table is helpful because it compresses the spread into something usable for a site module or callout. Instead of treating every poll as isolated, you can show that the dataset contains both brief spikes and deep troughs, with the troughs much more common in the later years.
A simple way to interpret the spread
- A reading in the 50s is rare in this dataset.
- A reading in the 40s appears only a few times, and only in older points such as 2004 (Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs).
- Readings in the teens are common in the 2010s and 2020s, especially in the most recent data (Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs; Gallup Congress approval trend PDF).
Reading the long decline
The sequence does not move in a straight line, but the broader shape is still easy to see. The older values include 56% in Dec. 2-4, 2000, 57% in Sep. 11-12, 1998, and 41% in Dec. 5-8, 2004 (Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs). Later readings show 39% in Mar. 5-8, 2009, then 18% in Oct. 3-5, 2008, and a sharp drop to 16% in Mar. 4-7, 2010 (Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs).
By the 2010s, the floor becomes more visible. The dataset includes 10% in Feb. 2-5, 2012, 9% in Nov. 7-10, 2013, 12% in Feb. 6-9, 2014, 15% in Apr. 3-6, 2014, 13% in Dec. 2-6, 2015, 13% in Jul. 13-17, 2016, 18% in Dec. 7-11, 2016, 20% in Apr. 5-9, 2017, and 13% in Oct. 5-11, 2017 (Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs).
That is a long stretch of weak numbers. For a reader, the significance is not just that Congress is unpopular. It is that the dataset shows the public settling into very low approval over many years, not just during one isolated crisis.
The modern trend confirms that pattern. The 2020s readings in the data include 15% in Dec. 1-17, 2020, 23% in Nov. 5-19, 2020, 17% in Jan. 2-15, 2025, 31% in Mar. 3-16, 2025, and 15% in Oct. 1-16, 2025 (Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs). Even the strongest recent point in that group is still far below the older peaks.
What stands out by year
Because the dataset spans multiple decades, it helps to look at year clusters rather than isolated values. Some years show a clear range, while others are represented by one or two points that still say a lot.
| Year / period | Congressional approval points in the dataset | Range | Source label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 17%, 29%, 31%, 28%, 26%, 23%, 26%, 24%, 26%, 15% | 15% to 31% | Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs |
| 2021 | 25%, 35%, 31%, 20%, 21%, 27%, 28%, 20% | 20% to 35% | Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs |
| 2020 | 21%, 17%, 19%, 23%, 15% | 15% to 23% | Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs |
| 2017 | 24%, 20%, 13% | 13% to 24% | Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs |
| 2014 to 2016 | 12%, 15%, 19%, 13%, 13%, 18% | 12% to 19% | Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs |
| 1998 to 2004 | 57%, 56%, 41% | 41% to 57% | Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs |
This kind of grouped view is valuable because it highlights how narrow the recent range is compared with the broader historical range. The 2025 cluster is especially useful for a stats page because it shows both the short-term movement and the persistence of low approval.
Best-supported takeaways by period
- 2025 is a low-approval year even at its best point, with 31% in Mar. 3-16, 2025 (Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs).
- 2021 contains the strongest modern reading in this dataset at 35% in Feb. 3-18, 2021, but the surrounding readings still stay modest (Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs).
- The mid-2010s are especially weak, with several readings from 9% to 19% (Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs; Gallup Congress approval trend PDF).
- The late 1990s and early 2000s contain the only values above 50% in the dataset (Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs).
Why the source labels matter
The visible source labels are part of the usefulness of the data. When the facts are attributed to Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs or Gallup Congress approval trend PDF, readers can tell where the readings came from without guessing. That matters for a stats page because the label is often the difference between a casual claim and a traceable reference.
The labels also help you keep sections consistent. If you cite a recent reading like 15% in Oct. 1-16, 2025, the reader should see the matching source label near that fact (Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs). If you cite an older trend point like 16% in Oct. 16-27, 2024 or 13% in Dec. 3-17, 2023, the trend PDF label should stay visible (Gallup Congress approval trend PDF).
Good editorial habits for this kind of page
- Keep the latest reading near the top so the page feels current.
- Group the historical lows and highs into compact reference blocks.
- Preserve the original source labels near every numeric claim.
- Use ranges and buckets so the page is readable without flattening the series into a single sentence.
Ways to use this data on an a congress website
A Congress-focused site can use the same dataset in several practical ways. The numbers are short enough to support inline callouts, but the spread is wide enough to support a full explainer page.
Possible content blocks include:
- a lead card for the latest reading, such as 15% in Oct. 1-16, 2025 (Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs);
- a trend strip showing the 2025 readings from 17% to 31% and back to 15% (Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs);
- a high-low comparison module using 57%, 56%, 10%, and 9% as the reference points (Gallup Congress and Presidential Approval Topline and Tabs);
- a historical timeline that emphasizes the 2010s as a low trough period.
For editorial structure, the best approach is to lead with the current low level, then give readers a small amount of historical context. That sequence matches what the dataset actually shows. It is not a popularity story. It is a long-running approval story with brief bursts upward and a much longer stretch of weak ratings.