AOC's approval rating

Approval rating vs favorability. A job-approval rating asks whether people approve of how a specific official is handling their office. Ocasio-Cortez represents New York's 14th district in the U.S. House, and individual House members do not get a standalone national job-approval poll the way a president or governor does - so this page reports what pollsters actually ask about her nationally: whether Americans have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of her. That favorability number is the honest answer to "AOC approval rating."

Source: Economist/YouGov national poll toplines. Favorable and unfavorable totals are the values printed in each official YouGov release; each figure was read directly from the topline PDF and cross-checked against its very/somewhat sub-parts. A sweep of the weekly toplines confirmed her favorability was not asked in the intervening weeks. Latest data: June 26-29, 2026.

Source: Marquette Law School Poll national survey, a nonpartisan academic poll of U.S. adults; the favorable/unfavorable totals are read from Marquette's own topline tables. Marquette's own trend file shows this is the one national wave in which it asked about Ocasio-Cortez, so a single academic reading is shown here alongside the Economist/YouGov trend above; the two agree that she is net-negative nationally, with Marquette a few points more unfavorable.

Favorability is a broad-audience sentiment number: it asks all Americans - Democrats, Republicans, and independents - whether they view Ocasio-Cortez favorably. That makes it useful for gauging her general-election standing, but it is not the same as support inside a Democratic primary.

• Favorability, not job approval: AOC is a House member, not an executive officeholder, so there is no standalone job-approval number; the figures above are favorable-versus-unfavorable opinion.
• A stable favorable number: her favorable rating has held around 33% to 35% for more than a year in the Economist/YouGov series, while her unfavorable rating has sat in the high 30s to low 40s - modestly net-negative and barely moving.
• A sizable undecided share: roughly a quarter of adults give no firm opinion, even though she is one of the most recognized figures in national politics.
• Primary vs general: she has placed in the top four of most early 2028 Democratic primary polls and leads the field's progressive lane, because a primary is decided by Democratic voters, among whom she is far better rated.

For where the 2028 field stands overall, see our 2028 primary polls and prediction-market odds.

Ocasio-Cortez is one of the most-discussed possible 2028 Democratic candidates and has placed near the top of several early national primary surveys, yet her favorability among all adults is modestly underwater and has barely moved for more than a year. Both things are true at once: a candidate can be a leading, well-defined name in her party's primary while remaining net-negative with the broader electorate. Whether she could broaden that appeal would be one of the central questions of a 2028 campaign, if she runs. She has not declared, and these numbers can move well before then.

See our Democratic candidates 2028 hub, is AOC running in 2028?, can AOC run in 2028?, and AOC's full 2028 profile for the bigger picture. Favorability numbers on this page are updated when a new Economist/YouGov or Marquette reading is released.