WASHINGTON, D.C. — Nurses continue to garner the highest ethics rating from Americans, a distinction they have held for a quarter century. In addition to nurses’ 75% “very high” or “high” rating, of the professions tracked regularly, medical doctors (57%) and pharmacists (53%) again earn majority-level scores for their honesty and ethical standards. In contrast, telemarketers (5%), members of Congress (7%) and car salespeople (7%) remain the lowest-rated professions for ethics.
Nurses have outpaced all other professions since being added to the list in 1999, with the exception of one year, 2001, after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, when firefighters made their lone appearance. Before 1999, pharmacists and clergy members were typically the most highly rated professions for their ethics. Although nurses are held in the highest esteem, their latest ethics rating is near the 73% low for the profession and 14 percentage points shy of their record high in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Similarly, the ratings of medical doctors and pharmacists have fallen 20 and 18 points, respectively, since peaking during the pandemic and remain below pre-pandemic ratings.
童颜视频 has gauged the public's views of the honesty and ethical standards of a variety of occupations since 1976. The list changes from year to year to allow for the measurement of a larger number of professions over time. One new group, military veterans, was added this year in partnership with With Honor and is rated highly by 67% of Americans.
Seven of the 21 occupations measured in the Dec. 1-15, 2025, poll have reached new low points or tied their previous lows.
- Pharmacists, high school teachers, clergy members and business executives are each two or three percentage points lower than the previous record lows.
- Police officers, stockbrokers and telemarketers have returned to prior low points for each. Police officers’ rating has shifted the most in the past year, falling seven points.
In addition to the seven professions with record-low ratings, eight others are statistically close to their lowest points. These include accountants, advertising practitioners, bankers, members of Congress, nurses, building contractors, car salespeople and real estate agents.
Just one profession, labor union leaders, enjoys its highest ethics rating; however, it remains low in an absolute sense, at 27%.
Ethics Ratings of Professions Are Mixed
While only four professions — nurses, veterans, medical doctors and pharmacists — are perceived as having high ethics by majorities, another five are more likely to be seen as having high than low ethics, with most of the rest viewed as having average ethical standards.
High school teachers, police officers, accountants and funeral directors are all rated more positively than negatively by wide margins. Clergy members are also in the net-positive group, albeit with a narrower margin rating their ethics as high rather than low.
At the other end of the spectrum, just two professions are perceived as having low or very low ethics by majorities: members of Congress and telemarketers.
However, another eight tilt negatively, with more saying their ethics are low than high. Those suffering from the strongest negative tilt in perceptions, albeit with less than half rating them negatively, are car salespeople, stockbrokers, business executives, advertising practitioners and journalists. The images of bankers, lawyers and real estate agents are modestly negative on balance.
The remaining two professions rated in 2025 — union leaders and building contractors — have equal proportions rating them positively and negatively, while large segments consider their ethics average.
Average Across 11 Professions Remains Historically Low
A core group of professions has been tracked consistently over the past four decades, including 11 that have been measured annually since 1999. The average positive rating across these 11 professions is now 29%, the lowest historically by one percentage point.
The average was typically 40% or higher in the early 2000s and closer to 35% during most of the 2010s. It rose to 38% in 2020, the highest in seven years, reflecting increased public trust in healthcare workers and teachers during the pandemic. Since then, the average has been declining.
Partisans Diverge Most on High School Teachers, Police, Journalists, Union Leaders
Republicans and Democrats have different views of about half of the professions. Republicans and Republican-leaning independents rate five professions more positively than Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, including police officers (by 34 points), military veterans (19 points), clergy (15 points), stockbrokers (10 points) and real estate agents (eight points).
Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents rate five occupations significantly more positively than Republicans and Republican-leaning independents — high school teachers (by 40 points), journalists and labor union leaders (33 points each), nurses (17 points), and medical doctors (16 points).
There are no significant differences in partisans’ views of business executives, advertising practitioners, funeral directors, accountants, members of Congress, bankers, building contractors, pharmacists, telemarketers, car salespeople and lawyers.
Bottom Line
Americans continue to rate nurses as the most honest and ethical profession, a position they have held for more than two decades. Although nurses and other healthcare professionals remain among the most trusted, their ratings, along with those of many other professions, have declined from pandemic-era highs, leaving overall ethics ratings across many occupations at or near historic lows.
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