Report · Money

Foreign aid often competes with U.S. needs

Reading

In a Verasight survey of 3,000 U.S. adults conducted Sept. 22 to 29, 2025, 71% of Americans said government spending on foreign aid comes at the expense of helping people in need within the U.S. Including 46% who said a great deal and 26% who said some.

About one in five said it comes at little or no expense (22%), with 15% who said not much and 7% who said not at all.

Topline

response scale

Topline scale

71% of Americans say foreign aid spending comes at the expense of helping people in the U.S.

In your view, how much does government spending on foreign aid come at the expense of assisting people in need within the United States?

  • A great deal 45.7%
  • Some 25.7%
  • Not much 14.5%
  • Not at all 7.2%
  • Don’t know / not sure 6.9%

2025 · base n 3,000 · +/- 3.3%

Verasight APSA Omnibus Survey #2025-119

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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
2025-09-22 → 2025-09-29
Base (unweighted)
3,000
Margin of error
+/- 3.3%
Module
Verasight APSA Omnibus Survey #2025-119

Source

  • 01
    Foreign aid often competes with U.S. needsreports.verasight.io/reports/verasight-apsa-omnibus-survey-2025-119

Citation

Verasight APSA Omnibus Survey #2025-119, fielded September 22-29, 2025, N=3,000 US adults age 18+, +/- 3.3%.

https://reports.verasight.io/reports/verasight-apsa-omnibus-survey-2025-119#in-your-view-how-much-does-government-spending-on-foreign-aid-come-at-the-expense-of-assisting-people-in-need-within-the-united-states

Verasight survey methodology

How Verasight conducts surveys.

This page describes the Verasight general survey contract, separate from how the Data Library packages it. Each wave's specific field dates, sample sizes, and module breakdown are listed in that wave's 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
Every wave is published as a standalone report at verasight.io/reports with full instrument and methodology.
Transparency
AAPOR transparency standards.

Wave-specific methodology, full weighting variable lists, and verbatim instrument text live in each report at verasight.io/reports.