The president's job approval has remained low since our last nationwide poll of likely voters. We asked it two ways this cycle, the first: "Overall, do you approve or disapprove of Joe Biden's job as President?" 43% of U.S. likely voters approved (strongly and somewhat approved combined); 21% strongly approved, 22% somewhat approved. More than half (55%) disapproved; 17% somewhat disapproved and 38% strongly disapproved. Only 2% were not sure.
Of the demographics we surveyed there were a handful of groups where Biden's approval fluctuated. These were region, age, gender, race, income, and education.
Regionally, President Biden's job approval was best in the East (47% approved/50% disapproved) and West regions (54% approved/45% disapproved). Biden's numbers were much lower in the South (38% approved/60% disapproved) and Central/Great Lakes regions (38% approved/61% disapproved).
As for age, there were differences in how certain age groups viewed Biden's job approval rating. The differences were between voters under fifty and over fifty. Younger voters aged 18-29 years old (50% approved/46% disapproved) and voters aged 30-49 years old (47% approved/52% disapproved) were more likely to think the president was doing a decent job, while older voters aged 50-64 years old (37% approved/63% disapproved), and 65+ (44% approved/55% disapproved) were less favorable of Biden's performance on the job.
A majority of men (45% approved/54% disapproved) and women (41% approved/56% disapproved) disapproved of Biden.
White voters (36% approved/62% disapproved) were much more disapproving of Biden, while African American (69% approved/28% disapproved) and Hispanics voters (52% approved/44% disapproved) approved of Biden's handling of his job as president.
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Income was also a factor in how voters viewed Biden's job approval. Voters who had the lowest incomes and middle incomes-<$25K (33% approved/64% disapproved), 25-$35K (40% approved/58% disapproved), $35-50K (31% approved/67% disapproved), $50k-75K (41% approved/57% disapproved), and $75K-100K (41% approved/57% disapproved) all had majorities of voters who disapproved of the president, while upper income voters-$100K-$150K (54% approved/47% disapproved) and $150K+ (62% approved/36% disapproved) were much more likely to have approved of Biden.
There were no big surprises with education. College educated voters (53% approved/47% disapproved) were more likely to have approved of Biden's job as president than non-college educated voters (37% approved/61% disapproved), but Biden has lost significant support among non-college educated voters which he had sustained early in his term.
Biden's job approval was all right among Democrats (80% approved/19% disapproved), and anemic among Independents (35% approved/59% disapproved). As expected, Republicans (13% approved/88% disapproved) were not approving of Biden's handling of his job as president.
Kamala Harris' job approval rating (44% approved/52% disapproved) was on par with the president's job approval rating. We also asked Harris' approval rating two ways. In this scenario we asked, "Do you approve or disapprove of the way Kamala Harris is handling her job as Vice President?"
The vice president was most popular in the East (49% approved/47% disapproved) and West regions (53% approved/43% disapproved). Voters were less approving in the Central/Great Lakes (36% approved/58% disapproved) and Southern regions (41% approved/56% disapproved).
Younger voters aged 18-29 (48% approved/41% disapproved) and middle-aged voters aged 30-49 (48% approved/48% disapproved) were more positive about the Vice President's job approval than older voters aged 50-64 (39% approved/58% disapproved) and 65+ (40% approved/57% disapproved).
Women (45% approved/49% disapproved) and men (43% approved/55% disapproved) disapproved of the vice president. When it came to race, both Hispanics (54% approved/44% disapproved) and African Americans (67% approved/26% disapproved) were fond of Vice President Harris, while a majority of White voters disapproved of the way the vice president was managing her job.
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When it came to income, just like Biden, lower and middle income voters disapproved of her job as vice president-<$25K (32% approved/63% disapproved), $25K-$35K (42% approved/55% disapproved), $35-50K (32% approved/66% disapproved), $50k-75K (41% approved/52% disapproved), and $75K-100K (43% approved/52% disapproved), while upper income voters-$100K-$150K (53% approved/45% disapproved) and $150K+ (64% approved/31% disapproved) approved of the way Harris was handling her job as vice president.
Harris' job approval was decent among Democrats (79% approved/16% disapproved), but she struggled with Independents (35% approved/56% disapproved). Not surprisingly, Republicans (14% approved/84% disapproved) were not approving of Harris.
We asked Biden's job approval another way and only using three options for respondents to select from: approve, disapprove or not sure.
The president's job approval lowered by two percentage points (41%), while a majority (54%) still disapproved of him.
Shockingly, the president did not receive majority approval from any age group: 18-29 (49% approved/40% disapproved), 30-49 (45% approved/50% disapproved), 50-64 (33% approved/63% disapproved), 65+ (41% approved/55% disapproved) nor among men (44% approved/53% disapproved) or women voters (37% approved/55% disapproved).
Regionally, the president's support was strongest in the West (52% approved/43% disapproved), while majorities disapproved of the president in the South (32% approved/61% disapproved) and Central/Great Lakes (37% approved/59% disapproved) regions. The president's job approval was slightly better in the East (45% approved/47% disapproved).
The education of surveyed voters in this scenario also factored in how positive or negative Biden's job approval rating was. Voters without college degrees (33% approved/61% disapproved) were much more likely to disapprove of Biden compared to voters with college degrees (51% approved/44% disapproved).
Please click here to view the top-line data.
Only three-quarters of Democrats supported Biden's handling of his job as president (74% approved/18% disapproved), while a majority of Independent voters (32% approved/57% disapproved) disapproved of the president. Conversely, Republicans (13% approved/87% disapproved) did not support Biden's handling of his job as president.
Among ethnicities, African American voters (60% approved/31% disapproved) gave the president the highest approval rating, while support among Hispanics (44% approved/39% disapproved) was tepid. White voters (35% approved/61% disapproved) heavily disapproved of President Joe Biden.
When it came to the annual income of surveyed voters the same trend continued as in the other job approval question; low and middle income voters did not approve of the president-<$25K (28% approved/65% disapproved), $25K-$35K (37% approved/58% disapproved), $35-50K (26% approved/68% disapproved), $50k-75K (39% approved/56% disapproved), and $75K-100K (40% approved/55% disapproved), while majorities of upper income voters approved of the president-$100K-$150K (51% approved/45% disapproved) and $150K+ (62% approved/29% disapproved).
We also asked Vice President Harris' job approval two ways and in this scenario with just three options: approve, disapprove or not sure.
Overall, Vice President Harris had numbers similar to that of President Joe Biden when we slightly altered the style of the question and removed approval options for respondents. Her job approval was at 40% and 51% disapproved, while 9% were not sure.
Regionally, the vice president was even in the East (45% approved/47% disapproved) and West regions (43% approved/43% disapproved), while majorities of voters disapproved in the South (36% approved/57% disapproved) and Central Great/Lakes regions (38% approved/56% disapproved).
Slight majorities of men (41% approved/53% disapproved) and women (38% approved/51% disapproved) disapproved of Harris, while college educated voters (49% approved/44% disapproved) were slightly more approving than non-college educated voters (33% approved/57% disapproved).
The youngest voters aged 18-29 (49% approved/36% disapproved) approved of the vice president, while voters 30 and older were more likely to disapprove of Harris' job as vice president-aged 30-49 (44% approved/48% disapproved), 50-64 (33% approved/59% disapproved), and 65+ (36% approved/57% disapproved).
Harris's numbers were less than stellar with her own party. Less than three-quarters of Democrats (72% approved/17% disapproved) approved. A majority of Independents (32% approved/52% disapproved) gave Harris a negative job approval. Only 12% of Republicans approved, while 86% disapproved.
Please click here to view the top-line data.
Ethnically, African Americans (59% approved/27% disapproved) were the most likely to approve of Kamala Harris' job performance, but White (34% approved/59% disapproved) and Hispanic voters (45% approved/40% disapproved) were less enthusiastic.
Harris, like the president also experienced the same trend with voters when it came to their income level-lower- and middle-income voters disapproved of her-<$25K (29% approved/61% disapproved), $25K-$35K (39% approved/56% disapproved), $35-50K (27% approved/62% disapproved), $50k-75K (40% approved/53% disapproved), and $75K-100K (39% approved/53% disapproved), while upper income voters approved of the vice president's job in office-$100K-$150K (47% approved/47% disapproved) and $150K+ (59% approved/28% disapproved).
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Zogby Analytics Poll Methodology
US Likely Voters
8/4/22 - 8/6/22
Zogby Analytics conducted an online survey of 891 likely voters in the US.
Using internal and trusted interactive partner resources, thousands of adults were randomly invited to participate in this interactive survey. Each invitation is password coded and secure so that one respondent can only access the survey one time.
Using information based on census data, voter registration figures, CIA fact books and exit polls, we use complex weighting techniques to best represent the demographics of the population being surveyed. Weighted variables may include age, race, gender, region, party, education, and religion. The party breakdown for this survey is as follows: 38% Democrat, 38% Republican and 24% Independent/unaffiliated.
Based on a confidence interval of 95%, the margin of error for 891 is +/- 3.3 percentage points. This means that all other things being equal, the identical survey repeated will have results within the margin of error 95 times out of 100.
Subsets of the data have a larger margin of error than the whole data set. As a rule we do not rely on the validity of very small subsets of the data especially sets smaller than 50-75 respondents. At that subset we can make estimations based on the data, but in these cases the data is more qualitative than quantitative.
Additional factors can create error, such as question wording and question order.
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About Zogby Analytics:
Zogby Analytics is respected nationally and internationally for its opinion research capabilities. Since 1984, Zogby has empowered clients with powerful information and knowledge critical for making informed strategic decisions.
The firm conducts multi-phased opinion research engagements for banking and financial services institutions, insurance companies, hospitals and medical centers, retailers and developers, religious institutions, cultural organizations, colleges and universities, IT companies and Federal agencies. Zogby's dedication and commitment to excellence and accuracy are reflected in its state-of-the-art opinion research capabilities and objective analysis and consultation.