Who do Americans trust most for information about COVID-19?

The study finds that a vast majority of Americans across all 50 states trust their own doctors, infectious disease experts, the CDC, and family and friends for COVID-19 information. While trust in media and government varies—with local TV and local/state officials being more trusted than national networks and federal figures—there is very little geographic variation in these trust levels, with a maximum range of 4 percentage points across states.

• In every U.S. state, there is an overwhelming level of trust in medical professionals and public health authorities, with over 90% of Americans trusting their own doctors and over 87% trusting infectious disease experts and the Center for Disease Control (CDC).
• Personal networks are highly trusted, with more than 80% of Americans in every state trusting their family and friends for COVID-19 information.
• Trust in media and government sources is more fragmented; local TV is the most trusted media source (82%), while national networks like CNN (57%), MSNBC (52%), and FOX News (52%) have lower trust levels. Local (74%) and state (72%) government officials are more trusted than Members of Congress (55%) and President Trump, who is the only source trusted by fewer than half of Americans (48%).
• Despite general political partisanship, there is minimal geographic variation in trust for COVID-19 information, with the range of variability across all 50 states not exceeding 4 percentage points for any source.

APA

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (2020). Who do Americans trust most for information about COVID-19? https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/who-do-americans-trust-most-for-information-about-covid-19/

Chicago

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Who do Americans trust most for information about COVID-19? 2020. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/who-do-americans-trust-most-for-information-about-covid-19/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Yale Program on Climate Change Communication |title=Who do Americans trust most for information about COVID-19? |date=4 June 2020 |url=https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/who-do-americans-trust-most-for-information-about-covid-19/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{yaleprogramonclimatechangecommunication2020who, author = {{Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}}, title = {{Who do Americans trust most for information about COVID-19?}}, institution = {Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}, year = {2020}, month = jun, url = {https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/who-do-americans-trust-most-for-information-about-covid-19/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }