Oct. 20, 2026

Americans’ Views of Economic Inequality, Its Causes and Who Should Fix It

New Research from the Pew Research Center American Trends Panel (ATP). The Pew Research Center works with SSRS to recruit panelists, manage the panel and conduct ATP surveys.

About six-in-ten Americans (61%) say there is too much economic inequality in the United States, a view that is far more common among Democrats and Democratic leaners than Republicans and GOP leaners (78% vs. 42%).

These figures are unchanged from 2019. But some views about inequality and how to address it have shifted in that time:

35% now say no amount of economic inequality is acceptable, up from 29%.
24% now say the economic system needs to be completely rebuilt in order to address this inequality, up from 14%

Survey Methodology

The analysis of Americans’ views of economic inequality is based primarily on a Pew Research Center survey of 5,166 U.S. adults conducted Aug. 24-30, 2026. Everyone who took part is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel. The survey is designed to represent the views of all U.S. adults.

Here are the survey questions used for this report, the detailed responses and the survey methodology.