Gallup finds many American workers are struggling rather than thriving for the first time

American workers feel more pressured in their lives, with a greater share reporting that they feel more struggling than thriving in a new Gallup poll.

Gallup on Tuesday released new company information Health Check Indexwhich measured how people rate their current and expected future lives since 2008. It asks respondents to rate their current and future lives on a 10-point scale, categorized as “prospering,” “struggling” or “suffering.”

The company’s survey of American workers conducted in the fourth quarter of 2025 found that the share of those who are successful has decreased from 50% in the same quarter last year to 46%, while those who are struggling have increased from 46% to 49% during that time.

“For the first time since Gallup began measuring the health of American workers, more US workers are struggling in their lives (49%) than are thriving (46%),” the polling and analysis firm noted. Additionally, 5% of respondents were described as “suffering.”

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The change comes in contrast to the index’s findings in 2022 and 2023, when the share of American workers who said they were “thriving” was in the mid-50s, a sign of resilience after the economic turmoil. The covid-19 pandemic.

The past ten years have seen the highest percentage of respondents who are considered successful, and Gallup’s metric has held steady between 57% and 60% from 2009 to 2019.

They don’t respond it is considered prosperous it briefly dipped to 55% in 2020 before rising again in 2021, but the figure has generally been on a steady decline since then.

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American workers were less enthusiastic in their views. (Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The share of successful respondents peaked most recently in the third quarter of 2022, when it was 55% compared to 41% of struggling respondents. That 14 percentage point spread in favor of prosperity was the biggest difference since 2022.

“The smoothness of the labor force productivity rate has been slow but consistent. No quarter since early 2024 has shown sustained improvement — meaning the areas where the labor productivity rate is rising,” Gallup wrote.

Employees who struggle instead of succeeding also have challenges for potential employers absenteeism or currency exchange for struggling workers.

“The importance to organizations and the economy is true given that the well-being of employees has a tangible impact on important organizations. Gallup research finds that underdeveloped employees are at greater risk of missing work due to illness and seeking or looking for a new job,” added the company.

“Employees who thrive miss 53% more days of work due to health issues and are 32% less likely to actively seek a new job. As thrivers fall, so do organizational performance risks,” explains Gallup.

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The share of government workers rated as prosperous fell faster than other groups. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc/Getty Images)

While the report shows that all major parts of the US workforce have a negative view of their lives as of 2022, Gallup noted that. federal employees they have seen a sharp and rapid decline in their views.

Government workers were more likely than the average US worker to be successful in 2022, when they averaged 60%. That was six points above the national average and four points higher than state and local government employees.

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By the end of 2025, the prosperity rate of federal workers has dropped 12 points to 48%, far outstripping the decline of the average US worker, whose rate has dropped six points to 48%, and state and local government workers, whose prosperity rate has dropped six points to 50%.