Americans rank clergy at record low in honesty and ethics ratings: Gallup

February 16, 2026

Public perception of the honesty and ethical standards of clergy dropped to a record low over the past 50 years, according to Gallup’s annual honesty and ethics survey.

The Christian Post reports that only 27% of respondents rated clergy as high or very high on the scale of honesty and ethical standards.

By contrast, six other professions also recorded record lows in honesty and ethics, including pharmacists (53%), high school teachers (50%), police officers (37%), business executives (10%), stockbrokers (9%) and telemarketers (5%).

The Gallup polling organization has been measuring the public’s perceptions of honesty and ethical standards since 1976 and pharmacists and clergy members have consistently ranked as “the most highly rated professions for their ethics.”

Data for the latest poll was collected from Dec. 1 to Dec. 15, 2025.

According to the Christian Post, the share of the public who gauged clergy as high or very high fell below 50% for the first time in 2013, when 47% of Americans ranked clergy as high or very high on the honesty and ethical standards scale.

Since that time, the percentage has declined steadily.

Business executives, stockbrokers and telemarketers are among the professions that have never been ranked as high or very high on the honesty and ethical standards scale by a majority of the public.

Meanwhile, just four professions in the survey — nurses, veterans, medical doctors, and pharmacists — were perceived as generally having high ethical standards by most Americans.

The rankings of high school teachers and police officers have declined steadily since 2015.

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