For nearly a quarter of a century, nursing is the most trusted profession!

Gallup released the results of their annual Honesty and Ethics of Professions survey earlier this month, and once again nursing ranked as the most trusted profession in America.  The nursing profession has now held the top spot for the last quarter century!  Nurses have ranked number one every year since being added to the survey in 1999, with the sole exception of 2001, when firefighters ranked first (and nurses ranked second) following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.  Military veterans, who were added for the first time in this year's survey, ranked second, while medical doctors and pharmacists also received high marks.  In contrast, telemarketers (5%), members of Congress (7%) and car salespeople (7%) remain the lowest-rated professions for honesty and ethics.

Notably, while the nursing profession continues to be the most trusted profession in America, their latest 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 rankings of the other two professions that rank just behind nursing (medical doctors and pharmacists) have also fallen by 20 and 18 points, respectively, since peaking during the pandemic and remain below pre-pandemic ratings.  

Seven of the 21 occupations surveyed in the annual poll, conducted December 1-15, 2025, reached new low points or tied their previous lows (these include, most notably, nursing, accountants, advertising practitioners, bankers, members of Congress, building contractors, and car salespeople).  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.

Gallup concluded with the comment, "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."