America's Most And Least Trusted Professions

Some professions have a better reputation for honesty than others. Mistrust is pretty common in everyday life, whether its questioning a doctor’s honesty or ethics regarding a diagnosis or blaming the salesperson when your “new” used car breaks down after one day and 30 miles on the road. So that raises the question: what professions do Americans regard as the most honest and ethical today? Gallup examined the issue and released an interesting poll showing that nurses are the most trusted occupation in the country. They came top of the trust league for the 17th year in a row with 84 percent of respondents rating them very high or high for honesty and ethical standards.

The healthcare sector scored high on honesty in general with doctors and pharmacists also among the top-three with 67 and 66 percent respectively. Even though law enforcement has attracted criticism over a spate of police shootings, police officers are still considered honest by a majority of Americans. The same can’t be said for members of Congress, however, who are rock bottom with 58 percent of the U.S. public considering them dishonest. Car salespeople are also down towards the bottom of the ranking with 44 percent of people considering them unethical or dishonest.