Report · Culture

Americans tend to place themselves near the political middle

Reading

In a Verasight survey of 1,000 U.S. adults conducted April 9 to 15, 2025, 69% of Americans placed themselves in one of the two middle positions on a four-point left-right political scale.

The rest placed themselves at one of the endpoints: 16% chose the most left-wing position, and 15% chose the most right-wing position.

Topline

single choice

Topline distribution

69% of Americans place themselves in the middle of a four-point left-right political scale.

To what extent do you consider yourself a left or a right-wing? 0 is the most left and 3 is the most right.

  • 2 38.9%
  • 1 30.4%
  • 0 - Most left wing 15.8%
  • 3 - Most right wing 14.9%

2025 · base n 1,000 · +/- 3.5%

society

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Methodology

Full methodology
Mode
Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting
Field dates
2025-04-09 → 2025-04-15
Base (unweighted)
1,000
Margin of error
+/- 3.5%
Module
society

Source

Citation

Verasight MPSA Omnibus Survey #2025-026, fielded April 9-15, 2025, N=1,000 US adults age 18+, +/- 3.5%.

https://verasight-mpsa-2025.tiiny.co

Verasight survey methodology

How Verasight conducts surveys.

This page describes the Verasight general survey contract, separate from how the Data Library packages it. When a wave report is published, its field dates, sample sizes, and module breakdown are listed in that report.

Mode
Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting.
Population
US adults age 18+.
Sample design
Surveys are run as omnibus or single-topic waves. Omnibus waves are split into modules with their own respondent set, typically around one thousand respondents per module.
Field window
Each wave specifies its own field dates. Most omnibus waves field across roughly two weeks.
Weighting
Per-module weighting to CPS targets including age, race and ethnicity, sex, income, education, region, and metropolitan status.
Partisanship benchmark
Pew Research Center's NPORS benchmarking surveys, three-year running average.
Vote benchmark
2024 presidential vote population benchmarks.
Margin of error
Typically about plus or minus 3.4 to 3.6 percent per module at standard module sizes. Question-level MoE is recomputed when a base shrinks materially below the module baseline.
Reporting
The canonical report hub is reports.verasight.io. Verified legacy reports remain on their original hosts, and unpublished reports are marked pending.
Transparency
Verasight is a member of the American Association for Public Opinion Research Transparency Initiative.

The canonical report hub is reports.verasight.io; older reports may remain on verified legacy hosts.