Polling by Issue

This polling summary highlights Missouri voters’ approval ratings of:

• President Donald Trump
• U.S. Congress
• U.S. Supreme Court
• U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley
• U.S. Sen. Eric Schmitt
• Gov. Mike Kehoe
• Missouri state legislature

Polling Summary on Approval Ratings

This polling summary highlights Missouri voters’ ratings of:

• U.S. economy
• Missouri economy
• Public schools in their community
• Public schools in Missouri
• Missouri roads and infrastructure
• Crime in their community
• Race relations in their community

Polling Summary on Issue Ratings

• 55% of Missouri voters think the Missouri state government should spend more to aid the poor (February 2026)
• 81% of Missouri voters support eliminating the state sales tax on groceries (February 2024) 
• 80% of Missouri voters support a $35 monthly cap on out-of-pocket insulin costs after insurance (February 2026)
• 57% of Missouri voters favor the Missouri state government funding prekindergarten education (August 2022)
• 62% of Missouri voters favor the policy that public schools must provide free meals to students, regardless of income (February 2025) 

Polling Summary on Aiding the Poor

• 39% of voters support state control over the St. Louis Police Department. 48% support local control. (February 2025 Poll)
• At least 57% of Democratic, Republican, and Independent voters support background checks for buying guns/firearms. 85% of voters support banning minors from carrying guns on public property without adult supervision. (June 2020, August 2022, February 2023, August 2024 Polls)
• 85% of voters support banning minors from carrying guns on public property without adult supervision (August 2024 Poll)
• 10% or fewer voters support banning all guns, handguns, or hunting rifles. (February 2023 Poll)
• 56% of voters are worried about a shooting happening at public schools in Missouri. (February 2023 Poll)

Polling Summary on Guns and Public Safety

• 54% of Missouri voters prefer that the Missouri state government rely on sales taxes more than individual income taxes to raise revenue. 29% prefer income taxes to sales taxes (February 2026 Poll)
• 52% of Missouri voters support eliminating the state income tax (February 2025 Poll)
• 81% of Missouri voters support eliminating the state sales tax on groceries (February 2024 Poll)
• 80% of Missouri voters agree that property taxes should not be raised for Missouri homeowners who are 62 years old or older (February 2024 Poll
• 59% of Missouri voters are very or somewhat worried about being able to afford their property taxes (August 2026 Poll)

Polling Summary on Taxes

• 48% of Missouri voters approve of how Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is handling its job. 47% disapprove (February 2026 Poll, MoE +/-5.45%)
• 75% of Missouri voters believe the U.S.-Mexican border situation is a crisis that needs to be resolved immediately (February 2024 Poll).
• 22% of Missouri voters support colleges being allowed to consider an applicant's race among other factors when making decisions on admissions (August 2023 Poll).
• Using the term "Critical Race Theory" matters for assessing public opinion. When asking a random subsample whether "schools should be allowed to teach Critical Race Theory", 37% agreed. When asking a different random subsample on the same survey whether "schools should be allowed to teach about how racism can exist in society and its institutions," 48% agreed (July 2021 Poll).

Polling Summary on Race and Immigration

• At least 60% of Democratic, Republican, and Independent voters support abortion being legal in cases of rape, incest, and when the woman's life is endangered (February 2026 Poll, August 2022 Poll)
• 43% of voters support the proposed 2026 ballot initiative to add restrictions on who can receive an abortion in Missouri. 44% oppose. 13% are not sure. (August 2026 Poll)

Polling Summary on Abortion

• 62% of Missouri voters support allowing the death penalty in cases of first-degree murder (February 2026 Poll)
• 78% of Missouri voters favor charging someone with first-degree murder if they knowingly distributed fentanyl to a person that caused that person's death (February 2025 Poll)
• 52% of Missouri voters favor the Governor being allowed to change death penalty sentences to life in prison without parole (February 2024 Poll)

Polling Summary on Death Penalty

• 25% of Missouri voters support allowing minors to receive hormone therapy or medication that can temporarily prevent the effects of puberty (February 2026 Poll)
• 56% of Missouri voters support same-sex marriage (August 2023 Poll)
• 38% or fewer of Missouri voters support public school bans of books on gay, lesbian, or transgender youth (August 2023 Poll)
• 19% or fewer of Missouri voters support allowing public elementary schools to discuss sexual orientation or gender identity issues. Meanwhile, at least 51% of voters support allowing such discussion in high schools (August 2023 Poll)
• 18% of voters support allowing transgender student athletes to play on sports teams that match their gender identity, rather than the gender they were assigned at birth (August 2023 Poll)

Polling Summary on LGBTQ+ Issues

This polling summary highlights Missouri voters' approval ratings on the costs of construction of professional sports facilities (e.g., stadiums and arenas).

Polling Summary on Stadium Funding

• 38% or fewer of voters support schools being allowed to ban books with stories about gay or lesbian youth or transgender youth (August 2023 Poll)
• When asked if schools should be allowed to teach Critical Race Theory, only 37% agreed. However, when asked if schools should be allowed to teach about how racism can exist in society and its institutions, 48% agreed (July 2021 Poll).
• Only 18% of voters favored public schools allowing discussion of sexual orientation issues with students in elementary schools. However, 56% of voters favored allowing such discussions in high schools (August 2023 Poll).
• 18% of voters support allowing transgender student-athletes to play on sports teams that match their gender identity, rather than the gender they were assigned at birth (August 2023 Poll).

Polling Summary on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

• Fewer than three in ten Missouri voters support building a new data center in the state of Missouri (August 2026 Poll).
• At least 70% of voters favor prohibiting students from accessing cell phones during regular instructional activities in elementary, middle, and high schools, unless authorized by the school principal (February 2025 Poll)
• Only 13% of voters believe that social media has had a positive impact on society. (February 2025 Poll)
• The median age at which Missouri voters believe children should be legally allowed access to social media is 13 (February 2025 Poll).
• 75% of voters favor prohibiting the usage of artificial intelligence-generated content in political advertisements (February 2025 Poll).

Polling Summary on Technology

• 57% of Missouri voters believe charter schools should be allowed to operate across the state (February 2026 Poll)
• 23% of Missouri voters correctly identify Missouri charter schools as public schools (February 2025 Poll)

Polling Summary on Charter Schools

• 60% of Missouri voters support allowing students to enroll in public schools outside of the district where they live (February 2026 Poll)
• 83% of Missouri voters believe transferring students or their guardians should be responsible for transportation to and from nonresident districts (February 2024 Poll)
• 39% of Missouri voters support allowing school districts to opt out of having students transfer into their districts. 43% oppose (February 2024 Poll)
• 30% of Missouri voters support transferring more than half or all local tax revenue designated for a student’s education to the nonresident school district, where the student now attends school (February 2024 Poll) 

Polling Summary on Open Enrollment

• 40% of Missouri voters are very or somewhat worried about being able to afford education expenses such as tuition, loan payments, and school supplies (August 2026 Poll).
• 45% of Missouri voters agree that the federal government should forgive up to $10,000 in federal student loan debt. 43% disagree (August 2022 Poll).
• 64% of Missouri voters believe that tax-funded Education Savings Accounts should be made available to students in households that earn up to $75,000 (250% of the federal poverty level) (February 2024 Poll)
• 73% of Missouri voters believe that private schools participating in the Empowerment Scholarship Accounts Program should follow all Missouri student testing and public reporting requirements (July 2021 Poll).

Polling Summary on Loans and Scholarships