Charted: How Americans Feel About Federal Government Agencies

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9 seconds ago

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May 10, 2024 Graphics/Design:

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Chart: How Americans Rate 16 Federal Government Agencies

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Come election time, America won’t hesitate to show its approval or disapproval of the country’s elected political representatives. That said, feelings about the federal bureaucracy and its associated agencies are a little harder to gauge.

We chart the results from an opinion poll conducted by Pew Research Center between March 13-19, 2023. In it, 10,701 adults—a representative of the U.S. adult population—were asked whether they felt favorably or unfavorably towards 16 different federal government agencies.

Americans Love the Park Service, Are Divided Over the IRS

Broadly speaking, 14 of the 16 federal government agencies garnered more favorable responses than unfavorable ones.

Of them, the Parks Service, Postal Service, and NASA all had the approval of more than 70% of the respondents.

AgencyFavorableUnfavorableNot sure 🏞️ National Park Service81%7%12% 📮 U.S. Postal Service77%20%3% 🚀 NASA74%9%17% 💼 Social Security
Administration61%28%12% 🔬 CDC56%38%6% 🎖️ Veterans Affairs56%28%16% 🌿 EPA55%31%14% 💉 Health & Human
Services55%30%15% 🕵️ FBI52%36%12% 🚗 Department of
Transportation52%36%12% 🛡️ Department of
Homeland Security51%35%13% ⚖️ Department
of Justice49%41%10% 🕵️‍♂️ CIA46%33%21% 📚 Department
of Education45%47%8% 💰 Federal Reserve43%37%20% 💼 IRS42%51%7%
Note: Figures are rounded. No answer responses are not shown.

Only the Department of Education and the IRS earned more unfavorable responses, and between them, only the IRS had a majority (51%) of unfavorable responses.

There are some caveats to remember with this data. Firstly, tax collection is a less-friendly activity than say, maintaining picturesque parks. Secondly, the survey was conducted a month before taxes were typically due, a peak time for experiencing filing woes.

Nevertheless, the IRS has come under fire in recent years. As per a New York Times article in 2019, eight years of budget cuts have stymied the agency’s ability to scrutinize tax filings from wealthier and more sophisticated filers.

At the same time poorer Americans are facing

Charted: What Frustrates Americans About the Tax System

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7 seconds ago

on

May 7, 2024 Graphics/Design:

See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.

What Frustrates Americans About the Tax System

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on Apple or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

In this visualization, we show Pew Research’s findings on what bothers Americans the most about the tax system.

This data was collected after surveying more than 5,000 American adults between the period of March 27-April 2, 2023.

The survey was weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population. Visit Pew Research’s methodology page for more details.

Americans Want More Taxes for Some

Six in every 10 Americans feel that both corporations and the wealthy don’t pay their fair share in federal taxes.

Their sentiments are not entirely unfounded.

Very frustratedSomewhat frustratedNot much/
at all frustrated 🏦 Corporations
don’t pay a fair share61%22%15% 💼 Wealthy people
don’t pay a fair share60%22%17% 🤔 Complexity of
the tax system53%32%13% 💸 Amount of tax paid38%33%29% 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Poor people don’t
pay a fair share13%21%64%
Note: No answer responses are not shown, thus percentages may not sum to 100.

A 2021 ProPublica investigation found some of the wealthiest Americans—also the wealthiest people in the world—did not pay a single penny in federal income taxes in some years.

A significant part of why this is possible is how taxes are collected depending on the source. Since much of the top 1% grow their wealth in equity and property, they are not subject to taxes until they make an actual transaction.

As this Brookings Institution article explains: most Americans make money through their wages, and wages are subject to heavier taxation than capital income. Thus, the tax share of America’s highest-income households is often lower than America’s middle-income households.

Finally, Pew Research noted that their findings were essentially unchanged since 2021.