Americans have more trust in science than most of the rest of the world, according to a new survey of people in 140 countries, a finding that may seem difficult to explain in a country deeply divided by issues such as the benefits and harms of vaccines.
According to the newest edition of the Wellcome Global Monitor, 52 percent of Americans report having “a lot” of trust in science. Across the globe, that number is a mere 26 percent.
Americans, in aggregate, are also more eager to get vaccines compared to peer nations; 45 percent of Americans say they would want to get vaccines recommended by a nurse or doctor “right away.” In Germany only 28 percent say the same.
And while the share of people globally who agree that science benefits most people in their society has dropped from 42 percent in 2018 to 37 percent in 2025, the share of Americans who agree with that statement has actually increased from 48 percent to 57 percent.
But the aggregate statistics don’t tell the whole story. STAT’s analysis of the Wellcome data demonstrates that while America may, in general, appreciate and trust science, it is also far more divided than peer nations.
Take the religious divide: According to STAT’s analysis there was, on average, a 5 percentage point gap between the percentage of religious and non-religious people in high-income nations who said science benefits most people in their country. In the United States that gap was 24 percentage points.
A similar divide — 19 percentage points — separates urban and rural Americans on the question of science’s benefits. The divide across other high-income nations is just three points. Education level divides Americans as well — just 47 percent of Americans without four-year degrees reported believing that science benefits most people, compared to 71 percent of college grads.
Wellcome, a British foundation focused on scientific research, funded the survey in 2018, 2020 and 2025. The most recent version was administered as part of the Gallup World Poll through a combination of in-person, telephone and online surveys of more than 140,000 adults. The global findings were weighted “to ensure that global estimates accurately reflect the relative populations of countries in the survey.”
The survey does not offer an explanation for why the United States appears to be outpacing its peers on trust. But at least some of Americans’ seeming polarization may be explained by Americans’ tendency toward extremes.
Americans are “more extreme responders to public opinion surveys,” said Matthew Motta, an associate professor at Boston University School of Public Health who is an expert on public opinion research.
For example, a smaller proportion of Germans than Americans said they would “not get vaccines at all.” Only 8 percent of Germans were completely anti-vaccine, compared to 13 percent of Americans. Instead, the vast majority of Germans said they would “prefer to think about it for some time.”
The survey also showed that Americans who historically have been less trusting are not necessarily souring on science and its benefits. STAT’s analysis finds that the proportion of Americans who identify as religious and who believe science benefits most people increased by four percentage points, from 46 percent in 2018 to 50 percent in 2025. Self-reported religious Americans are also more likely to report an eagerness to be vaccinated when compared to peer countries.
A similar pattern plays out with Americans without four-year degrees. The percentage of non-college grads who say science benefits most people increased by three percentage points over that seven-year period, and they too are more likely than residents of peer nations with similar education to want vaccines right away.
So what is causing America’s growing divide over trust in science? The poll shows it is growing enthusiasm for science among highly educated, secular Americans. Both reported substantial increases in their appreciation of the benefits of science: 13 percentage points for college grads, and 15 percentage points for secular Americans over seven years, the Wellcome survey found.
In short, America is divided not because certain groups are souring on science, but because others are becoming more appreciative of its benefits.
That might seem like good news. But the divide nonetheless underscores that the benefits of science are not reaching a large swath of Americans in ways they can see and feel.
“People are feeling left behind, they are not understanding how this benefits me,” said Brian Castrucci, president and CEO of the de Beaumont Foundation, which focuses on strengthening public health.
Some divisions facing Americans will be difficult to combat in a country as large and diverse as the United States. City dwellers with cancer who can access care at a top-rated university medical center will inevitably see science’s impact on their lives more than people in a rural area who might have to travel a great distance for even the most basic hospital care.
Wellcome found that trust in science is closely associated with confidence in a nation’s health care systems, which presents a problem for the United States as well. Just 40 percent of Americans reported a lot of confidence in U.S. hospitals and health clinics, the same proportion as in Portugal and Uruguay.
Anti-science sentiment coming from America’s top political officials is likely playing a role too, several experts said. Diverging views on science among America’s political parties became apparent during the Tea Party movement of the 2010s and was amplified during Trump’s presidency, said Yotam Ophir, an associate professor of communication at the University at Buffalo.
But experts STAT spoke to underscored that this new data doesn’t just indicate the need for the sorts of systemic changes that can take decades to fulfill. Scientists need to hone their ability to discuss the benefits of science in people’s everyday lives, and to stop expecting the public to blindly trust them, several experts told STAT.
“What we need to do is be better communicators, not better debaters. We are not going to be able to lecture people into trusting us,” Castrucci said.
Mark Henderson, Wellcome’s executive director of corporate affairs and engagement, said scientists who wish to take steps based on the report’s findings should “meet people where they are.”
“Approach people on a level with understanding and engagement and respect, and you’re going to get a better outcome,” Henderson added. “It’s not rocket science, but it often surprises me how hard people in the scientific community find it to do that.”