Recap:
Pew Research has just come out with a new typology that sorts the American public into nine groups based on their political values and beliefs. This is their ninth political typology study since the first one in 1987. The current typology is based on a survey of 10,357 U.S. adults conducted in November 2025. The 2026 Pew report includes additional data on the same respondents from 15 separate surveys conducted over the course of 2025 and 2026, as well as records from prior Pew Research election surveys and commercial voter files. Throughout this series, I’ll be delving into the data, looking for patterns and seeking a deeper understanding of what the hell in going on in this country.
Here are the nine types:
No Apologies Right: Unwavering Trump supporters with a pugilistic political style and an ‘America first’ outlook - 9% of U.S. adults and 19% of the Republican Party.
Faith First Conservatives: Staunch conservatives and strong Trump supporters who stand out for their faith-oriented politics - 12% U.S. adults and 25% of the Republican Party.
Unconventional Right: Conservative on immigration and culture, but they break from those to their right on some other key issues - 12% of U.S. adults and 19% of the Republican Party.
Pragmatic and Polite Right: Moderate in tone and on many issues, with a small-government streak - 11% of U.S. adults and 14% of the Republican Party.
Order and Opportunity Left: Economically liberal positions with moderate stances on immigration and concerns about safety and crime - 18% U.S. adults and 24% of the Democratic Party.
Left-Out Left: Democratic-leaning, with a mix of liberal and moderate views and limited confidence in the parties and the political system - 12% U.S. adults and 18% of the Democratic Party.
Loyal Liberals: Liberal across most issues, they are invested in the Democratic Party and in domestic and international institutions - 11% of U.S. adults and 21% of the Democratic Party.
Leftward Progressive: Liberal across the board, they are among the strongest critics of the U.S. economic system and the Trump administration - 7% of U.S. adults and 14% of the Democratic Party.
Tuned-Out Middle: Largely disconnected from politics, they tilt liberal on economic concerns but not on social issues - 9% of U.S. adults, 8% of the Republican Party, and 9% of the Democratic Party.
Source: Beyond Red vs. Blue: The Political Typology / Pew Research Center, Washington, D.C. June 10, 2026. Supplementary material: Appendix A, Appendix B, and Appendix C.
This post will look at how well individuals across the political spectrum are able to manage their household expenses. Specifically, what percentage of each group say they’re able to live comfortably or are at least able meet their basic expenses, with some left over for extras? The first chart addresses that question directly:
But are they doing well enough to pay their bills in full in a typical month? For the most part, yes.
Liberals and Progressives are the most educated of the political groups - respectively, 61% and 51% college grads+. So it’s unsurprising that their household finances are in pretty good shape.
More impressive is how well the No Apologies Right and Faith First Conservatives are doing, given that only a third are college graduates. These are the strongest Trump supporters on the right, by far (90% and 81% approval, respectively) and they seem to be doing okay, financially-speaking. Yet Trump supporters have often been portrayed by the media and academics as “left behind” by the economy, struggling to make ends meet, battling shame and compensating by being complete jerks. That’s the narrative anyway. See Feeling Left Behind, White Working-Class Voters Turned Out For Trump and The left behind men who crave pride, battle shame – and voted for Trump for examples of the genre.
Yet Trump Supporters pay their bills on time, for the most part. Maybe their political resentments reflect pride in their own achievements, not shame in their failures. To put that into words: “I made it despite the odds so don’t whine about needing government assistance to get what I got on my own.”
For the record, I’m not a Trump supporter. Pew tells me my closest match is "Order and Opportunity Left”. Take the Pew political typology quiz and find out yours.