How This Ranking Works
YouGov Ratings continuously surveys the American public on how they feel about public figures, including politicians. Each person's score is the share of respondents who say they have a positive opinion of them — counted only among people who recognize them in the first place. It measures personal likeability, not job approval.
Top 5 Right Now
1. Barack Obama (Democratic, 61%), 2. Bernie Sanders (Independent, 57%), 3. Arnold Schwarzenegger (Republican, 55%), 4. Kamala Harris (Democratic, 44%), 5. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (Democratic, 44%). The full ranked list of 20 is above, refreshed weekly.
Who are the most popular politicians in America right now?
According to YouGov Ratings (July 2026): 1. Barack Obama (Democratic, 61%), 2. Bernie Sanders (Independent, 57%), 3. Arnold Schwarzenegger (Republican, 55%), 4. Kamala Harris (Democratic, 44%), 5. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (Democratic, 44%). The full ranked list of 20 politicians is above, updated weekly.
What does the popularity score mean?
The score is the share of survey respondents who report a positive opinion of the person, out of everyone who recognizes them (YouGov Ratings methodology). It is not a job-approval rating — it measures general likeability, independent of office held.
How often is this ranking updated?
The underlying YouGov Ratings data is refreshed continuously; this page re-scrapes it weekly.
What is the data source?
YouGov Ratings (yougov.com/en-us/ratings/politicians), based on YouGov's ongoing public opinion surveys. We do not generate or estimate these numbers ourselves — they are pulled directly from YouGov's published rankings.