What do American people think about defense spending?
Force axis · 🇺🇸 the United States · measured continuously, published only above 100 responses.
42% of American respondents take the position “We should spend more on our armed forces.”, against 37% for “We already spend enough, or too much, on our armed forces.”, with 21% choosing neither. n = 107, margin of error ±9.6, weighted to the United States's adult population.
Where the United States sits on force
What is measured about the United States on this axis. These are facts about the country, not what its people think about them — that is the part of this page waiting on a sample.
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Military spending
SIPRI · 2024
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3.4% |
higher than most countries
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Armed forces personnel
IISS Military Balance · 2020
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1,395,000 |
among the highest in the world
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Tax revenue
IMF Government Finance Statistics · 2024
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10.8% |
lower than most countries
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Income per person
World Bank / ICP · 2025
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$76,931 |
among the highest in the world
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Ranked against every country with a published figure for the same series. Sources: World Bank World Development Indicators, which republish UN, ILO, UNESCO, WHO, SIPRI, IISS and UNODC data.
The questions that bear on defense spending
Asked as a forced choice between two written positions, in randomised order, with the sides flipped for half of respondents.
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A · We already spend enough, or too much, on our armed forces.
B · We should spend more on our armed forces.
World, unweighted: 41% A ·
21% neither ·
38% B · n = 3896
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42% B 🇺🇸 n=107 |
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A · Money spent on arms would do more good spent on helping poor countries.
B · Spending on arms buys the safety that everything else rests on.
World, unweighted: 43% A ·
24% neither ·
33% B · n = 3902
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43% B 🇺🇸 n=117 |
A national figure appears only once that nation clears 100 responses on the question. The world column is a raw count of every answer received and is not post-stratified — it is shown because withholding it would say less, not more.
Asked another way
The same question, as people put it.
- The united states public opinion on defense spending
- Defense spending poll the united states
- What do american people think about defense spending
- What percentage of american people support defense spending
Each has one answer on this page, and it is the same answer.