Trump in 2024 won a larger share of voters who attend religious services at least once a month than he did in 2020. Independents (including those who lean toward one party or the other) were evenly divided in 2024, with 48% voting for Harris and 48% for Trump. Consistent with other recent elections, younger voters tended to favor the Democratic candidate while older voters tended to favor the Republican. Four-in-ten Asian voters (40%) cast ballots for Trump, up from 30% in 2020.
Voting patterns in the 2024 election
His support among Hispanic voters was 12 points higher than in 2020 (48% in 2024, 36% in 2020). And the share voting for the Democratic candidate fell from 61% to 51%. White men favored Trump by a margin of 20 points in the most recent election. Democrats are more likely than Republicans to assess research scientists positively on their traits and characteristics.
How U.S. Public Opinion Has Changed in 20 Years of Our Surveys
- But Trump drew nearly even with Kamala Harris among Hispanic voters, losing among them by only 3 points.
- By contrast, among Republicans, similar shares of those with and without a four-year degree have strong confidence in scientists (15% vs. 11%).
- To understand the views of the American public, we surveyed 5,410 adults from Aug. 12 to Aug. 18, 2024.
These groups’ responses are incorporated into the general figures throughout. Larger shares of experts than of U.S. adults see AI as personally beneficial. Far more of the experts we surveyed believe these technologies will benefit (76%) rather than harm (15%) them personally.
Suburban voters continued to favor the Democratic candidate, but by a smaller margin than in 2020 (a 4-point margin in 2024 vs. 10 points in 2020). Voters with postgraduate degrees remained a strong Democratic group. research and development gaap Voters with postgraduate degrees favored Harris by roughly two-to-one (65% to 33%), which is similar to Biden’s and Clinton’s advantages in the past two elections. Harris led more narrowly among those with no more than a four-year degree, while Trump won by large margins among those with less formal education.
Majorities view research scientists as intelligent (89%) and focused on solving real-world problems (65%).
In 2020, Joe Biden won Hispanic voters by 25 percentage points, and Hispanic voters supported Hillary Clinton by an even wider margin in 2016. But Trump drew nearly even with Kamala Harris among Hispanic voters, losing among them by only 3 points. While Democrats have a broadly positive view of research scientists across most traits we asked about, communication is an area where impressions are less glowing.
They are only representative of the views of experts who responded to the survey. Pew Research Center conducted this study to understand how Americans’ views of artificial intelligence compare with the views of those who have expertise in the field. This report includes findings from a survey of U.S. adults, a survey of AI experts and a series of in-depth interviews with experts.
Confidence ratings for scientists are even slightly higher than those for public school principals and police officers – two groups that receive positive overall ratings. A larger majority of Democrats than Republicans express confidence in scientists to act in the public’s best interests (88% vs. 66%). New York far outpaces other metropolitan areas in the number of H-1B applications approved in 2023. The Washington, D.C., and San Jose, California, metro areas had the next-highest totals, with more than 30,000 approvals each. Denial rates peaked at 15% in fiscal 2018, during Trump’s first administration. That included 24% of new applications for initial employment and 12% of renewal applications for continuing employment.
An identical share of White voters favored Trump in 2020, and 54% selected him in 2016. Americans offer reserved assessments of the quality of scientists’ policy decisions. Across several traits, ratings among Republicans are more negative today than in 2019. For instance, there’s been a 17-point decline in the share of Republicans who view research scientists as focused on real-world problems (69% to 52%). There are also some differences in trust by Americans’ level of education. Strong trust in scientists is higher among four-year college graduates than among those without a college degree (34% vs. 22%).
Attendance at religious services
Tech leaders like Elon Musk strongly support the program, while other Republicans question its impact on American workers. President Donald Trump imposed restrictions on the program in his first term, but his current policy agenda on H-1Bs remains under discussion. White adults’ views are seen as well-represented in AI design relative to other racial and ethnic groups.
Here are the questions used for this analysis, the topline and the survey methodology. Trump also gained – through changes in turnout – among Black Protestants and among Protestants of a race or ethnicity other than White or Black. Religious groups voted along familiar lines in 2024, even as Trump gained among Protestants, Catholics, and those who reported attending religious services on at least a monthly basis. In 2024, Hispanic women and Hispanic men were divided in their preferences for president. In 2020, Hispanic women were more likely than Hispanic men to vote for the Democratic candidate.
From political speeches to songs, how would Americans react if they found out AI was involved?
For metropolitan areas not defined in the IPUMS data, we used data from published Census Bureau tables (Table B24060). “Denied applications” refer to H-1B applications that were denied in a given fiscal year. The data for denials only includes applications whose first decision from USCIS is a denial. These findings come from government data, some of which we received through a public records request. The public also sees men’s views as better represented than women’s, even as about four-in-ten are unsure. The shares of U.S. adults who say they’re unsure range from 13% to 26%, depending on the job.
And while 47% of experts surveyed say they are more excited than concerned about the increased use of AI in daily life, that share drops to 11% among the public. Here are the key findings from surveys of U.S. adults and AI experts conducted in 2024, and in-depth interviews with experts. The largest share of users (44%) say the streaming services they use are worth the cost, while 31% say they’re not. Trump also benefited from changing turnout patterns – though not from significant defections – among suburban voters.
- Other areas with high concentrations of H-1B approvals include San Jose, California (three approvals per 100 workers) and Trenton, New Jersey (two approvals per 100 workers).
- Examples of these include jobs in systems analysis and programming, computer systems technical support, and data communications and networks.
- No other birthplace accounted for even 2% of H-1B workers approved in 2023.
- For example, 22% of men think AI will positively impact the U.S., compared with 12% of women.
- These patterns are consistent with Center surveys conducted over the last several years.
Since fiscal 2012, about 60% or more of H-1B workers approved each year have held a computer-related job. In 2023, the share was 65%, and these workers reported a median annual salary of $123,600. Examples of these include jobs in systems analysis and programming, computer systems technical support, and data communications and networks. Both experts and the public see men’s views as better represented in AI design than the views of women.
Americans’ Largely Positive Views of Childhood Vaccines Hold Steady
Black men and women alike were more likely to vote for Trump in 2024 than in 2020. One-in-ten Black women and 21% of Black men voted for Trump in the most recent election. Hispanic voters were divided in 2024, a major shift from 2020 and 2016.
ABOUT PEW RESEARCH CENTER Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan, nonadvocacy fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. The Center conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, computational social science research and other data-driven research. Pew Research Center is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts, its primary funder. Americans are divided over how active they want scientists to be in public policy debates over scientific issues. And Americans are not convinced that scientists make better policy decisions on science topics than other people, or that they are less biased in their decision-making.
Views on scientists’ judgment and role in policymaking
Trump narrowly won men under age 50, a shift from 2020 when men in that age group favored Biden by 10 points. This gap has closed primarily due to a decline in trust among White Republicans – driving overall levels of trust among White adults lower – rather than an increase in trust among Black adults. This is up slightly from 73% in October 2023 and represents a halt to the decline seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. Scientists continue to enjoy strong relative standing compared with the ratings Americans give to many other prominent groups, including elected officials, journalists and business leaders.
Carolyne Im is a research analyst focusing on race and ethnicity at Pew Research Center. College Station was also the top metro area from 2010 to 2016, when it had 32 H-1B approvals per 100 workers. College Station, Texas, is the metropolitan area with the highest concentration of H-1B approvals. Employers based in and around College Station received about seven H-1B approvals per 100 workers in fiscal year 2023. No other metro area received more than four approvals per 100 workers. H-1B applicants must work in occupations that require specialized knowledge and at least a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent.
About 40% of U.S. adults say high-skilled workers should be given top priority for legal immigration. Additionally, about 60% of voters say that legal immigrants fill jobs that U.S. citizens don’t want, according to an August 2024 Pew Research Center survey. Applications for continuing employment are usually filed for noncitizens already in the U.S. The fate of the H-1B program – which offers U.S. employers a way to temporarily hire foreign workers in specialty occupations – has divided influential Republicans.