The American Dream at 250: A Special Edition of the American Dream Snapshot

Celebrating America at 250

The American Dream is celebrating its 250th birthday this year. Born with the Declaration of Independence, the American Dream became the most important narrative in the history of the United States, and it continues to serve as a beacon of hope for Americans and people around the world.

James Truslow Adams popularized the term “American Dream” in his book, The Epic of America (1931). However, the ethos of the American Dream has always been present in the history of the country. Long before the term was coined, generations of settlers and immigrants came to America seeking greater opportunity, freedom, and the chance to build better lives in pursuit of human flourishing.

At its core, this concept involves pursuing something meaningful in your life, setting goals, and taking action to pursue them. It is a dream of freedom and purpose. It is a dream that has been resilient throughout the challenging history of our country—through a war for independence, a civil war, civil rights movements, world wars, and pushing the geographical frontier, the innovation frontier, and the cultural frontier.

There is no other country in the world that can say it has a national ethos that is as unifying, inspiring, and forward-looking as the American Dream. The cultural fabric of the United States is built on this American Dream. Although the promise of the Dream has not been available to all people at all times in our nation’s history, the continued expansion and accessibility of the Dream serves as a redemptive story for both the country and the American Dream itself.

As we face our current challenges, the American Dream encourages us to overcome obstacles and tear down barriers, both at the individual and societal levels. We can’t afford to lose hope in the American Dream. It is the fuel that keeps our country’s dynamism alive as an engine of opportunity, motivator of entrepreneurial invention, and generator of prosperity and progress for millions across the globe.

The American Dream is, ultimately, the vision of the United States—a vision that we, the people, aspire to achieve; it provides the guiding direction for the impact we hope our work and lives will leave behind. Benjamin Franklin challenged future generations to maintain and keep the founders’ vision for the republic. Alongside solid institutions and enduring founding documents, that vision of the future nation has been the driving force behind the resilience of the American Dream and the American republic for 250 years.

The American Dream Today

So, at 250 years old, what is the health of the American Dream today? Is it alive and well? Does it continue to inspire and unite people? And is it strong enough to fuel America’s next 250 years? These are important questions to ask, especially as we celebrate this milestone anniversary. That is why the Archbridge Institute has commissioned an annual survey for the past seven years to understand the American people’s attitudes toward the American Dream. Americans today have many concerns: political polarization, international crises, economic barriers, technological advancement, immigration, and more. We dive into these questions and how they relate to the American Dream, as well as American beliefs about opportunity, equality, patriotism, and virtue.

Even as new challenges emerge, Americans continue to view the American Dream as achievable, unifying, and rooted in freedom, opportunity, and personal responsibility.

Achieving the American Dream

The American Dream is Still Achievable

The death of the American Dream has been proclaimed—and dare we say, exaggerated—by many pundits, politicians, and influencers in the media. There has been an era of speculation, doomerism, and nihilism about whether the American Dream still exists for current and future generations.

And while other surveys and scholarly work measure economic mobility, opportunity, or a narrow definition of success, we believe it is important to understand what Americans say about the Dream in their own lives. So, for the seventh year in a row, we took the question directly to Americans, and we found continued evidence of the American Dream’s resilience.

The American Dream is alive and well in 2026. Most respondents to our survey (67%) said they have either achieved the American Dream or are on their way to achieving it. Only one-third said the American Dream is out of reach, per Table 1A.

Achievement | To what extent has your family achieved the American Dream?

At the same time, optimism has softened compared to recent years. As Table 1B shows, pessimism in the American Dream is at an all-time high since we launched the survey in 2020. This number has fluctuated over the years, with 18% of Americans believing the American Dream was out of reach in 2022 compared to around one-third of Americans since 2024.

Delving into specific demographics in Table 1C, we can see that older cohorts are more positive about the American Dream than younger people, which has also been the case in past editions of this survey. This could be because younger generations are more concerned about economic conditions and more anxious about the concept itself, as we report in the next sections. Lower income groups are also more negative about the American Dream. This is not surprising considering these groups face higher economic constraints and adversity while having fewer resources to pursue their dreams.

White, Black, and Hispanic Americans report similar levels of optimism in the American Dream—with only about one-third of each saying it is out of reach—but there are important differences in the number of people who say they have achieved the American Dream compared to those who say they are on their way to achieving it.

We also see differences between political groups, with Republicans being the most positive and Independents being the most negative about the American Dream. However, a majority of people from all three political leanings still say they have either achieved or are on their way to achieving the American Dream.

Overall, the message remains that the American Dream is alive and well. Two-thirds of Americans, or almost seven in ten people, continue to believe that the American Dream is achievable for them. Despite some challenges we describe below, this fact is extremely important as growing pessimism about the American Dream risks becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Why the American Dream Feels Out of Reach

Focusing on the people who say the American Dream is out of reach, we asked them about the barriers standing in their way. We discovered good news and bad news, as shown in Table 2A. Starting with the bad news, the most common response was economic barriers such as rising housing prices, cost of living, low wages, and other financial factors. Nearly two-thirds of respondents said economic barriers are the most likely reason that the American Dream is out of reach for their family—more than all of the other responses combined. These are important challenges to address, as affordability issues have become widespread and are now a major source of concern across the political spectrum, with competing proposals for how best to address them.

However, this response also offers some hope. Many of these man-made problems have man-made solutions that can be addressed through public policy, private enterprise, and service organizations. In contrast, barriers like a fundamental disbelief in the American Dream or personal and cultural obstacles can be intractable.

Out of Reach | What is the most likely reason the American Dream is out of reach?

In that sense, the good news is that only 8% of respondents who say the American Dream is out of reach (about 3% of the total sample) do not believe the American Dream is a realistic or meaningful concept. Other complex issues like political dysfunction, personal capacity, and cultural shift score even lower.

Reducing economic barriers is an important challenge of our time—and one we take seriously at the Archbridge Institute—but these findings suggest that concerns about the American Dream are driven primarily by economic pressures rather than rejection of the concept itself. We can continue to believe in the cultural ethos of the American Dream, its present possibility, and a hopeful future.

When we break this question down by demographics in Table 2B, we see that economic barriers is the top concern for all groups. We see the highest rates of disbelief in the American Dream from young Americans, Black Americans, and Democrats.

The Pursuit of the American Dream

The American Dream is about a journey and not just the destination. Many people do end up achieving their American Dream, but it is also concerned with what the Declaration of Independence calls the “pursuit of happiness,” and what that means to each American.

At its essence, being on your way to achieving the American Dream first means that you have a dream, which is an achievement in itself. Being willing to dream and developing meaning and purpose in your life is not a given. The second requirement is to act on your human agency, your capacity to control your life and take action. In pursuing that American Dream, you must plan, act, assess, and persevere. Those are four key elements of the pursuit of the American Dream. In our survey, we asked people who are on their way to achieving the American Dream about their journey. Answers are presented in Table 3A.

Pursuit | What is the best description of your pursuit of the American Dream?

The responses reveal a broadly hopeful outlook. Most respondents who say they are on their way to achieving the American Dream report feeling motivated, making progress toward important goals, and believing they are moving in the right direction. While pursuing any meaningful goal involves setbacks and uncertainty, these findings suggest that many Americans continue to approach the pursuit of their dreams with optimism and perseverance. There is much to celebrate with these responses as they all show that the journey to the American Dream is alive and well.

Among younger Americans who say they are on their way to achieving the American Dream, we see a clear and expected trend that they need more time to develop a clear vision of their dream, to get started, and to achieve it. This is encouraging because they report being motivated and empowered to pursue their dream, rather than falling into despair. Responses for other demographic groups are broken down in Table 3B.

Believing in the American Dream

The American Dream as a Shared Belief

We now turn to what respondents think about other people’s chances of achieving the American Dream and their overall beliefs about the cultural impact of this narrative. See responses in Table 4A.

Although a majority of people said the American Dream is achievable for them and their family, respondents are much less hopeful for their fellow Americans. Only 48% said they believe most Americans can achieve their American Dream. This aligns with other research showing people have more negative beliefs about the “concept” of the American Dream than about their own chances of success.

Beliefs | What is your level of agreement with these American Dream statements?

Notably, most Americans believe the American Dream can unite people around a shared belief, regardless of different backgrounds and viewpoints. This is an important lesson for the 250th anniversary and suggests that the American Dream continues to serve as a shared cultural ideal for many Americans. Additionally, as Table 4B shows, this view is held by a majority of all demographic groups except Black Americans; Republicans and older Americans are the most positive groups about the concept of the American Dream.

Defining the American Dream at 250

The Declaration of Independence included one of the most important sentences in the history of the United States: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Is that sentence representative of the American Dream after 250 years?  The resounding answer should be yes. James Truslow Adams defined the American Dream in 1931 as:

[The American Dream] is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man and woman, with opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement. . . . It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of a social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.

In our survey, when we ask people what conditions are essential for the American Dream, we see both of these ideas at the forefront. As Table 5A shows, the most valued ingredients for the American Dream are “freedom of choice in how to live” and “having a good family life” (80% and 76%, respectively). Retiring comfortably and owning a home are also important to many, although not as essential as many caricatures of the American Dream portray. These findings suggest that Americans value what a home represents—freedom, stability, and family life—more than the physical structure itself.

Nearly one-quarter of Americans say “becoming wealthy” is not at all important to achieve the American Dream, and only 17% view it as essential. This is consistent with previous editions of the survey and demonstrates the nuanced view many people have towards the American Dream. While financial security can enable more freedom of choice and family opportunities, wealth itself is not the primary motivation for most Americans.

Components | Which aspects of the American Dream are essential to you?

As Table 5B shows, these responses have been consistent over the past seven years.

And finally, as Table 5C shows, these results are similar across all demographic groups with just a few exceptions. For example, having a good family life was the most common response for Black Americans and Republicans, while younger generations and low-income respondents value becoming wealthy more than the average. But overall, the responses hold steady across different groups.

The Land of Opportunity

Then and Now—Hope for Future Generations

The “Shining City on a Hill,” as described first by Puritan leader Paul Winthrop and later popularized by Ronald Reagan, has represented a beacon of hope and opportunity. Does the land of opportunity continue to be thought of as such for Americans?

We asked Americans how they view their opportunities compared to previous and future generations. As Table 6A shows, Americans remain optimistic about their own opportunities, with the majority saying that they have more opportunities than their parents. Seven in ten Americans said that they have either more or about the same opportunities. Only 29% of people report having fewer opportunities than their parents.

Overall, these responses reflect a generally positive view of opportunity, but as Table 6B shows, there has been an increase in the number of people who report having fewer opportunities since our survey debuted in 2020.

Your Parents | Relative to your parents, how do you view your opportunities for success?

In terms of demographics, which are shown in Table 6C, the results are consistent across nearly all groups. Younger generations, Hispanics, and Independents are most likely to say they have fewer opportunities than their parents, while Americans ages 60+, Black Americans, and Other Ethnicities are most likely to say they have more opportunities today.

We also asked people to compare their opportunities to the expected opportunities for their children. When it comes to future generations, most people are optimistic (Table 7A). When we adjust only for those respondents who have children, 41% of people believe their kids will have more opportunities, 27% believe they will have the same, and 32% believe their children will have fewer opportunities. These results are mostly unchanged from last year (Table 7B).

Table 7C shows the demographic breakdown for this question. Not surprisingly, younger generations are less likely to report having children (a category that has grown over time), but they are slightly more optimistic about their children’s success than the survey average. Consistent with previous editions, Black Americans are the most optimistic group about advancements in opportunity.

Your Children | Relative to your own life, how do you view opportunities for your children?

These mostly positive and hopeful results do not mean there isn’t more work to be done to ensure greater opportunities for everyone—we can and should continue to remove barriers that stand in people’s way. But again, Americans have a more optimistic view about opportunity than one might think listening to the media, politicians, and others engaged in the rage economy. Even 250 years after the founding of this country, America continues to be the land of opportunity and the Shining City on a Hill.

Technology and America’s Future

Technology’s Role in the American Dream

One of the most important topics of the day is the impact of artificial intelligence on our economy and society. Last year, we added a question to this survey asking people whether they expected advancements in technology like artificial intelligence to help them, harm them, or have no effect on their ability to achieve the American Dream.

Since then, technology has continued to progress and much has been written about the positive and negative potential of artificial intelligence. On one side, artificial intelligence could enable people to pursue new dreams through innovation, create new products and pathways to success, combat diseases and improve healthcare, and enhance our overall productivity. On the other side, technology is likely to replace some jobs, disrupt the labor market, and decrease social connection.

Again, we wanted to ask Americans directly how they believe emerging technologies will impact their lives. In 2025, the most common response was “no effect” (51%). However, this year, we saw a significant increase in people’s concern surrounding emerging technologies like artificial intelligence. As Table 8A shows, the majority of respondents (43%) now believe it will stand in their way. Thirty-eight percent say it will have no effect, and 18% believe it will help them achieve their American Dream, a slight increase from last year.

AI | How do you believe technological advancements will affect your American Dream?

Table 8B reveals that younger cohorts, lower income groups, and people who lean Democrat are more likely to hold a negative view of technology’s impact. Overall, these findings suggest that many Americans remain uncertain about how new technology will affect their ability to achieve the American Dream. As with previous technological revolutions, artificial intelligence is almost certain to impact our lives, culture, and economy, but public attitudes may influence how individuals prepare for and adapt to future changes. We can shape the future of technology for our benefit, and that starts with our perceptions about its impact and our own human agency.

Equality and Public Policy

The Promise of Equality in America

The Declaration of Independence enshrines the promise of equality for all in America. That promise wasn’t immediately recognized for all people, but it has rightfully been extended over the past 250 years. This promise has inspired generation after generation to fight for freedom and equality. To better understand contemporary views of this American principle, we asked respondents which definition of equality most closely matched their own.

The first definition represents equality of opportunity, where everyone is treated equally under the law and given a fair chance to pursue success. The second definition represents equity, or the view that disadvantaged groups should be given more tools to level the playing field. The third definition prescribes an equal starting line, while the fourth definition describes equality of outcomes where everyone finishes in the same place.

Equality | What does equality mean to you?

As Table 9A shows, Americans overwhelmingly selected the first definition, saying that “equality” means having equality before the law and a fair chance to pursue opportunities. Equality of outcomes was the least popular response at just 4%.

This overall trend was true for all demographic groups, although we see some important differences in Table 9B. Younger Americans, Black Americans, and lower income groups are all more likely to define equality as equity—giving disadvantaged groups more resources to catch up. Democrats and Independents are also more likely to hold this view than Republicans. Although, interestingly, people of all political ideologies rejected the framing of equality as the need for equal outcomes. Just 3% of Democrats, 4% of Republicans, and 8% of Independents selected this definition.

Policy Priorities

The American Dream is shaped by public perceptions and policies. Economists often measure the success of the American Dream through the lens of upward mobility, or climbing the income ladder. However, public debates about economic opportunity generally touch on three separate but related topics: economic mobility, inequality, and poverty alleviation. Because each of these issues have their own causes and solutions, we asked respondents which goal they viewed as the highest priority for public policy.

As shown in Table 10A, the most popular response was ensuring people can climb the income ladder, followed by reducing the income gap between the rich and poor (36% and 30%, respectively). Poverty reduction was selected by about one-quarter of respondents, and less than 10% of people said none of these issues were important policy goals.

When looking at the responses by demographic groups in Table 10B, we see that younger generations believe reducing inequality should be our top priority, and Democrats believe the same in even bigger numbers. Interestingly, the poorest Americans and those with the least education say economic mobility is more important than reducing inequality.

These results underscore why policymakers must distinguish between these three issues and understand the differing effects solutions will have on upward mobility, inequality, and poverty reduction.

Public Policy | Which goal do you believe is most important?

American Identity and Values

Patriotism and the American Identity

As we celebrate America’s 250th birthday, we asked respondents about their views on patriotism and its relationship to the country’s future. We discovered that for most respondents, patriotism remains a key part of the American identity.

Table 11A shows strong agreement that anyone can be patriotic, regardless of different beliefs, and that one can criticize America and still be patriotic, demonstrating widespread faith in our First Amendment rights. More than seven in ten Americans (73%) say they are proud to be American. A similar number of people say their patriotism motivates them to work for a better future, and 70% say that being American is an important part of their identity. Two-thirds of people say that the American Dream is an important part of that patriotism.

If there is one bleak spot in this section, it is hope for America’s future. Only 58% of respondents say they are hopeful for the future of the country. Previous surveys on this topic revealed that people are overwhelmingly optimistic about their own prospects, with more than 80% expressing hope for their own future, while remaining pessimistic about the country overall. That type of cognitive dissonance is common and can also be found in beliefs about the American Dream, where individuals often believe their own chances of achieving it are greater than those of others.

Patriotism | What is your level of agreement with the following statements?

When it comes to the future of America, it would be better to align our actions with our aspirations for the country’s future so that hopelessness does not become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Hope, patriotism, and the American Dream should go hand in hand if we want to celebrate many more anniversaries of the United States.

As the demographics in Table 11B show, the results hold across various groups, but we see a bifurcation between younger and older generations. Only 52% of the youngest cohort say they are proud to be American compared to 88% of the oldest cohort, which is one of the largest demographic differences in this report.

We also see that Republicans are much more hopeful than Democrats and Independents about the future of the country. Other studies have shown that perspective is highly dependent on the political party in power (your own or the opposing party). Younger generations, once again, are more pessimistic than other age groups. A majority of Americans ages 18-29 are not hopeful for the future of America; just 45% report being hopeful, compared to 58% of the overall sample.

Immigration and America’s Story

Immigration has been a central tenet of the American experiment, and a contentious issue, since before our nation’s founding. New immigrant groups often faced persecution, even as we continued to explore and redefine what it means to be American.

At the same time, immigrants represent the hope and accessibility of the American Dream to people around the world. As former president Ronald Reagan famously said, “You can go to live in France, but you cannot become a Frenchman. You can go to live in Germany or Turkey or Japan, but you cannot become a German, a Turk, or a Japanese. But anyone, from any corner of the Earth, can come to live in America and become an American.”

Because of its relevance to this country’s history and its prominence in current public debates, we decided to ask Americans directly what they think about immigration, its role in our country’s history, and its relation to the American Dream.

Table 12A shows overwhelming support for immigration as a key feature of America’s history, success, and identity. More than seven in ten Americans also see immigration as a key feature of the American Dream. This positive view of immigration serves as a possible bridge to conversations around this topic and a reminder of the shared cultural identity that can be found in the American Dream.

Immigration | What is your level of agreement with the following statements?

Table 12B shows these results are consistent across age groups. Overall, Democrats embrace a more positive view of immigration, while Republicans and Independents report lower—albeit still high—levels of agreement with these statements.

Character and Virtue

In their pursuit of the American Dream, people are guided by key character virtues that motivate them to pursue their aspirations. These traits are often lauded in stories of American success or used to describe America’s unique cultural persona. However, relatively little survey research has examined which character traits Americans associate with the American Dream. Our survey set out to start a conversation about the virtues at the heart of the American Dream.

As Table 13A shows, most people consider many of the character virtues as “essential” to the American Dream, not just “important.” Fewer than 5% of respondents said that these virtues are not important to the American Dream, demonstrating that strong character is at the foundation of people’s views of the American Dream. The virtues of “integrity” and “honesty” top the list at 82%, while “personal responsibility” and “work ethic”—complements to freedom and hallmarks of American life—were rated essential by 79% and 78% of respondents, respectively.

Character | How essential are these virtues to your view of the American Dream?

Interestingly, some of the characteristics associated with America’s rugged individualism are seen as more essential than others. Self-discipline, for example, is less critical than personal responsibility but more essential than self-reliance. This perhaps captures the nuance between embracing our personal agency and accepting our need for others.

One of the open-ended questions included with our survey asks, “Who has helped you achieve your American Dream?” Some of the most popular responses include parents, teachers, and mentors, as people recognize the outsized role others play in one’s success.

Conclusion

The 2026 American Dream Snapshot shows the resilience of the American Dream. While concerns about affordability, economic opportunity, and emerging technologies have contributed to rising pessimism, most Americans continue to believe that the American Dream is achievable.

Americans see the American Dream as more than just the accumulation of wealth—it is a unifying narrative for all Americans. They believe in the land of opportunity for themselves and future generations.

Americans embrace freedom, family, and equality of opportunity as pillars of the American Dream.

Americans remain patriotic, acknowledging that immigration has been and continues to be a building block of our nation and the American Dream.

Finally, Americans recognize that character and success go hand in hand as they identify honesty, integrity, personal responsibility, and work ethic as the most essential virtues for achieving the American Dream.

As the United States marks its 250th anniversary, these findings offer a reminder that the American Dream remains a powerful cultural ethos that should be cherished and protected. Are there challenges past and present to the American Dream? Yes. But the American Dream is resilient precisely because it is about embracing and overcoming challenges, at an individual and societal level. That resiliency has allowed the American Dream to fuel the progress of America and its people for the past 250 years, and it will continue for another 250 years as long as its people continue to believe in it and pursue their own American Dreams.

About Our Survey

For this survey, we partnered with NORC at the University of Chicago and its AmeriSpeak® panel. AmeriSpeak® is a probability-based panel designed to be representative of the U.S. household population. Randomly selected U.S. households are sampled using area probability and address-based sampling, with a known, nonzero probability of selection from the NORC National Sample Frame. The nationally representative sample consisted of 2,069 respondents. The survey was conducted April 2-6, 2026.

 

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