The Issues The American Public Considers Important

As we enter a new year, I thought it might be instructive to look at the issues facing the United States that were considered the most important by the American people. The top chart shows the yearly average of all the issues named most important in 2014. The second chart shows the yearly average of the current top four issues over the last five years.

Note that for the first time, the issue of bad government overtook all other issues and finished in first place for 2014. It just shows how angry the public really is over the dysfunctional government in Washington (D.C.). Another interesting observation is that while the economy and unemployment are still in the top four, Americans don't seem to be quite as worried about them as in past years.

The Gallup Poll yearly averages are based on monthly surveys done of about 12,000 adults throughout the year, and has about a 1 point margin of error.