Life Evaluation Index

Gallup classifies those who rate their current life a 7 or higher and their anticipated life in five years an 8 or higher as thriving. Those who rate their current life and anticipated life in five years a 4 or lower are classified as suffering. Those who are neither suffering nor thriving are considered struggling.

Globally, Gallup has tracked life evaluations in at least 100 countries and areas each year since 2005, recording the highs and lows of how people have viewed their lives through major upheavals and changes -- including such events as Brexit, the Arab uprisings and the Euromaidan revolution. Since Gallup began tracking this in 2005, the percentage of the global population rating their lives highly enough to be considered thriving has ranged from a low of 21% in 2009 to a high of 29% in 2020 and 2023.

In the U.S., Gallup has tracked the Life Evaluation Index as part of domestic polling since 2008, recording the highs and lows of Americans' perceptions of their lives through the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic, among other major events. Throughout that time, the percentage of Americans who are thriving has ranged from a low of 46% in November 2008 and April 2020 to a high of 59% in June 2021.