Rating Of Professions By The American Public

The chart above is from the Gallup Poll. It was done between December 7th and 11th of a random national sample of 1,028 adults, and has a margin of error of 4 points. They asked their respondents to rate different professions as to their opinion of them -- either high/very high or low/very low.

Nurses topped the high/very high category with a rating of 84%. The only other professions to receive a high/very high rating from at least half of the public were pharmacists, medical doctors, engineers, dentists, and police officers. Personally, I disagree with rating police officers that highly, because of the "blue wall" (police acting to protect their own even when they have done wrong). That doesn't seem to me to be very honest or ethical.

As usual, members of Congress finished dead last, with only 8% rating them high/very high (worse even than car salesmen). Members of the clergy also did poorly, finishing only at a high/very high rating by 44% (down from 64% just 15 years ago). It seems that fundamentalist preachers are giving all clergy a bad reputation with their message of hate.