Desire to Expatriate

 Monmouth Poll:

One-third (34%) of Americans would like to go and settle in another country if they were free to do so. Fifty years ago, this number stood at a much lower 10%. The Gallup Organization asked this question in eleven different national polls between 1948 and 1995. During that time, the desire to emigrate never went higher than 13% (1972) and dipped as low as 5% (1950). In fact, the number of people wanting to leave the country averaged 6% in polls taken between 1948 and 1960, hovered between 9% and 13% in the early to mid-1970s, and was a similar 9% to 12% in the 1990s.

Over that time, political independents have been somewhat more likely to want to move out of the U.S. than partisans. That remains true in the current poll, with 41% of independents saying they want to resettle in another country, compared with 35% of Democrats and 22% of Republicans. Fifty years ago, 13% of independents wanted to leave, along with 10% of Democrats and 9% of Republicans. The last time Gallup asked this question – in 1995 – these results stood at 17% of independents, 11% of Democrats, and 6% of Republicans who wanted to settle outside the United States.