Is the American Dream still attainable? Here’s what voters said in a new poll

For generations, the American Dream has been the belief that anyone in the U.S., regardless of their background, can achieve success through hard work and perseverance.

But, new polling reveals that many Americans doubt the dream remains achievable in today’s world.

In the latest Quinnipiac University survey, respondents were asked, “Which comes closer to your line of thinking: the American dream is alive and well or the American dream is not attainable?”

A plurality of respondents, 50%, said the dream is not attainable, while 43% said it is alive and well. An additional 7% said they did not know.

When the results were broken down by partisan affiliation, a massive divide emerged.

The vast majority of Republicans, 79%, said the American Dream — a catchphrase first popularized in 1931 amidst the Great Depression — is still within reach. Meanwhile, 78% of Democrats said it is not.

Independents were more evenly split, with 51% describing it as unattainable and 41% saying it is alive and well.

“Is the sun setting on the American Dream? Overall, voters have their concerns, though Republicans have a far rosier view,” Tim Malloy, a Quinnipiac analyst, concluded in the poll.

The poll sampled 1,290 registered voters July 10 to 14 and has a margin of error of 2.7 percentage points.

The results come in contrast to other recent surveys, which have found greater belief that the American Dream can still be realized.

For example, in a July Ipsos poll, 56% of respondents disagreed with the statement that the dream “isn’t attainable for someone like me.” Forty-four percent said they agreed.

And, in a July 2024 Pew Research Center survey, 53% of respondents said the dream “is still possible for people to achieve,” while 41% said it “was once possible for people to achieve.”

This story was originally published July 17, 2025 at 12:42 PM with the headline "Is the American Dream still attainable? Here’s what voters said in a new poll."