A Huge Number of Americans Are Satisfied With Their Personal Lives

It's a record: 90% of Americans are satisfied with how their personal lives are going, the highest number in the four decades Gallup has been asking the question. The previous high was 88% in 2003; the record low is 73% in 1979, amid the oil crisis. In another record high, 65% report they are "very satisfied." Those who are married, live in high-income households, or are Republican are more likely to report satisfaction with their personal lives; those in low-income households are least likely to do so, followed by Democrats and unmarried adults. Gallup reports that its Mood of the Nation poll also found that Americans' confidence in the US economy is at a two-decade high. (More Gallup poll stories.)