New Poll: Majority of Democrats Would Prefer to Live Overseas Than in the US

New Poll: Majority of Democrats Would Prefer to Live Overseas Than in the US

On the eve of America’s 250th birthday, Elon University commissioned the polling firm YouGov to gauge public sentiment on a broad range of questions about the nation, including patriotism, civic pride, America’s standing in the world, and whether respondents would prefer to live elsewhere. The survey of 1,000 adults was conducted between April 30 and May 4, and released in June.

Perhaps its most striking finding was that a majority of Democratic respondents, 55%, said they would rather live outside the United States than remain here. To which many of us might respond: What’s stopping you?

By contrast, just 10% of Republicans said they would prefer to live abroad, underscoring a stark partisan divide in attitudes toward the country.

[I suspect Democrats would have answered that question much differently two years ago, but I digress.]

A news release accompanying the survey results was titled “A Proud but Deeply Uneasy Public as America Celebrates 250th Anniversary.” According to the poll’s administrators, many Americans feel the U.S. “is not living up to its founding ideals, that political divisions will worsen, and [69% believe] the signers of the Declaration of Independence would be disappointed in modern democracy.”

The administrators noted that while 68% of respondents are proud to be American and 79% believe the U.S. “plays a uniquely important role in world history,” many are “pessimistic about the health and future of American democracy.”

Majorities predict that by 2076 the nation will have less freedom, less economic equality, a lower standard of living, and more pollution. More Americans also believe technology will create more harm than benefit over the next 50 years.

Here are some additional results:

• 52% said the U.S. is unsuccessfully living up to its founding ideals, 30% say the U.S. is successfully living up to them.
• 73% rated the overall health of U.S. democracy as only “fair” or “poor.”
• 68% believe elected officials today are worse than leaders of the past.
• 80% say they at least sometimes feel no political party or movement represents.
• 70% say the country is more turbulent than average compared with other periods in U.S. history.
• 64% say they have little or no confidence that U.S. political institutions will make mostly good decisions over the next 50 years.
• 68% predict America will become more politically divided by 2076.

As the sharp divide between Democratic and Republican responses to the question of living overseas made abundantly clear, the findings suggest that Americans’ views of the nation’s history and founding ideals are becoming increasingly polarized along partisan lines. So, perhaps the most meaningful way to understand the survey’s findings is to examine them by party affiliation.

[These results appear in the Cross Tabulation section, which begins on page 22.]

Asked to describe how they feel about the U.S. turning 250 years old, overall, 38% of those surveyed felt “proud” and 17% were “grateful.” Twenty-four percent said they felt either conflicted, frustrated, or disappointed, while 21% were unsure.

While those topline numbers are mildly interesting, breaking the results down by political affiliation paints a much clearer picture. Among Republicans, 68% said they felt proud and another 19% said they felt grateful. Just 5% said they felt conflicted, frustrated, or disappointed, while 9% were unsure.

Democrats responded very differently. Only 18% said they felt proud and 17% grateful. By contrast, 42% said they felt conflicted, frustrated, or disappointed, and another 24% said they were unsure.

Among independents, 32% said they felt proud and 15% grateful. Another 24% said they felt conflicted, frustrated, or disappointed, while 29% were unsure.

Another question asked how likely respondents were to “personally participate in events or activities related to the 250th anniversary,” 41% said they were very or somewhat likely to do so, while a majority, 59%, said they were either unlikely or unsure.

Among Republicans, 64% were very or somewhat likely to participate, compared to 32% of Democrats and 31% of independents.

Participants were also asked to reflect on the social changes that have taken place throughout American history and whether they believe the country has “mostly moved forward positively, mostly moved backwards negatively, or had a more even mix of positive and negative change.”

A majority of Republicans, 54%, said America has mostly moved forward positively. Eleven percent said the country has mostly moved backward, while 35% said its history has been a mix of positive and negative change.

Democrats viewed the nation’s trajectory less favorably. Just 31% said America has mostly moved forward positively, 22% said it has mostly moved backward, and 47% described its history as a mix of positive and negative change.

A striking partisan divide emerged on the American Dream: 75% of Republicans agreed it remains attainable for anyone willing to work hard, regardless of circumstance, compared with just 25% of Democrats.

Whatever one makes of the individual questions, the cumulative picture is unmistakable. Republicans and Democrats are not simply divided over public policy, they increasingly differ in how they view America itself. If the nation’s semiquincentennial is meant to celebrate a shared civic identity, this survey suggests that such a consensus is becoming harder, if not impossible, to find.

𝐅𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐍: 𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐘 𝟏𝟑 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐒 𝐒𝐈𝐆𝐍𝐄𝐃 𝐀 𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐃𝐆𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐂𝐀𝐏𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐌 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐎𝐓𝐈𝐒𝐌 — 𝟏𝟗𝟗 𝐖𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃𝐍’𝐓

Sen. John Fetterman sat down with Kayleigh McEnany to say what most of his party’s leaders refuse to admit: the… pic.twitter.com/sreuvSqI0m

— M.A. Rothman (@MichaelARothman) June 27, 2026

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