What has happened to the American dream?

The American dream — often idealized by the house and white picket fence — has been debated, pondered and relentlessly pursued by those who have lived in the United States for generations, as well as more recent immigrants.

It is a diffuse concept: Everybody has the opportunity to build a better, fuller life through hard work and determination. But its roots are in big philosophical ideas: liberty, equality, democracy, justice.

Invoked by presidents and voters alike, the American dream serves as a deeply personal yet universal framework for people to talk about their lives, their government, their economy and the values they cherish.

President Donald Trump has nodded to the American dream time after time. In his first congressional speech in March, he described it as unstoppable — “surging bigger and better than ever before.”

But Americans are increasingly skeptical about the concept, both in whether the country can live up to its ideals and whether it can help its citizens fulfill their personal goals. Just over half of the country still believes that the dream is possible, according to a 2024 Pew Research Center survey. Another 41% said the dream was no longer achievable, and 6% said it was never possible.

Trump’s first 100 days in office — a period of staggering economic, political and social change — has raised critical questions: What is the state of the dream? Is it attainable? Do the original values still stand?

The New York Times interviewed people from across the country, including a ride-hailing driver, a software engineer and a retired federal worker, about the American dream.

Some say Trump’s economic agenda will eventually deliver the dream as he promised through a stronger, made-in-America economy.

For others, the entrenched income disparities and economic uncertainty have been disruptive and unmooring, more barrier than pathway.

‘Sometimes it’s stressful, but life is life’

Scott Meyer, 40, Davis, West Virginia

Scott Meyer has never doubted the American dream.

Meyer, a glass artist and owner of a studio, believes the dream is grounded in freedom and the right — if not duty — to work hard for a satisfying life.

“A car. A vacation. A couple kids. Sometimes, maybe it’s a boat or a motorcycle, you know? Whatever you’re into. Your effort is how you get anywhere in life,” he said. “I get up every day and work. If I don’t, I don’t eat, and it’s not on anybody else.

“I work seven days a week,” he said. “I struggle through. I do what I have to do to make it work. Sometimes it’s stressful, but life is life.”

Meyer said that Trump’s policies will be good for the economy and that the tariffs will even the playing field.

“I keep telling everybody, just give it time,” he said. “I think everything is going to be fine.”

‘The dream is deferred for too many people’

Mijuel K. Johnson 33, Philadelphia

Mijuel Johnson is a guide for a company that gives walking tours focused on early Black history.

Johnson said that since the Declaration of Independence, putting the values on which the country was founded into practice has been a work in progress.

He said he always viewed the American dream as the aspirational middle-class life but also as the manifestation of the country’s foundational values of liberty, equality and justice.

“I like to say that these are America’s professed values. It is the task of each successive generation to make our professed ideals real for everyone,” said Johnson, who is also a community organizer. He voted for Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.

“The dream is deferred for too many people, especially people of lower economic means and people from historically marginalized communities,” he said.

‘It feels like it is slipping away’

Malinda Burke 40, Raleigh, North Carolina

Days before Thanksgiving, Malinda Burke lost her job as an aircraft safety trainer.

In the monthslong search for a new job, in a market flooded with unemployed federal workers, Burke was forced to tap into her retirement to pay her bills. For the first time, she questioned if the American dream was sustainable. “I have always felt that if I worked hard enough, I could achieve the American dream. I was able to buy a house on my own,” said Burke, who describes herself as fiscally conservative and socially liberal. She did not vote in the 2024 election.

“And then in the blink of an eye,” she said, “I was like, ‘Oh, my God, what if I lose my house?’”

Burke started a new job but is earning far less.

“I am part of a middle class that has been shrinking for decades,” she said. “I think most of us just want a comfortable life, but that is really hard these days. It feels like it is slipping away.”

Roberto Lopez, 44, Miami Beach, Florida

— A naturalized U.S. citizen and software engineer who voted for Trump

“The American dream is not about equal outcomes. It’s about opportunity, the opportunity to actually have a chance of succeeding. There’s an opportunity, no matter how hard it may seem. I do believe in the American dream. I think things are going great. The president’s bold actions will make the dream possible for more people.”

Damian Conley, 51, Caledonia, Wisconsin

— A truck driver who voted for Trump

“I think I live it a little bit. I don’t have the white picket fence, but I got a house, married with two kids, so I’m kind of there. Being 51, that was kind of the traditional American dream that I grew up with. Buy your own home, get a white picket fence and have two kids, right? With President Trump, I think I will still be living the dream.”

Jack Ragheb, 67, North Bethesda, Maryland

— A biotech consultant who voted for Harris

“American dream? I think it’s still the Horatio Alger story, rising up from very little to succeed. Is it still possible today? Yeah, you see examples around you all the time. But I think the traditional avenues have narrowed.”

Marcos Rivera, 44, Tampa, Florida

— An e-commerce entrepreneur who voted for Trump

“The American dream depends on self-sufficiency. It took 40 years for us to get where we are now, where everything we have — you look underneath and it says, ‘Made in China.’ It’s going to take at least half that time to come out of that. I think the policy changes are good for the economy, but the execution has been a little uncoordinated.”

Sam Crane, 19, Cincinnati

— A college student who voted for Trump

“The American dream is that you have the ability to get by on your own. I think it is getting less attainable mainly because of housing prices. I am not going to be idealistic and say that one person is going to fix everything, but I think the dream is going to be more attainable in the next four years than it was in the last four years.”

Sechita McNair, 45, Atlanta

— A ride-hailing driver who voted for Harris

“When I think of the American dream, I think of homeownership and building equity and passing the home along to your children. With the tariffs and the economy and the student loans coming due, the dream is simply not achievable. Honestly, I need to think about moving overseas.”

Toccoa Lenair, 46, West Palm Beach, Florida

— An educator who voted for Harris

“The American dream is to live a life where you don’t have to struggle. But for many people, it’s actually becoming more like a dream. It’s harder to achieve.”

Ayo Suber, 42, San Francisco

— A web and creative engineer who voted for Harris

“I think the American dream is propaganda — that you can come here and be whatever you want. It’s accessible to certain people, for sure, but I don’t think that it’s evenly distributed. I think that’s always been the case for Black Americans, in particular, who are the descendants of enslaved people, because the country wasn’t set up for us to have that dream. I think we are going to see more instability, and the American dream will be a lot less attainable for a lot more people.”

Olivia Correia, 20, Los Angeles

— A college student who voted for Harris

“I think the American dream is a political tool. I think it’s a very useful one for convincing people within our country that we are an equitable and just and free nation. I wish that what we think of as the American dream could be realized. I don’t believe that it’s ever been realized by most people in this country. The question is: Who is the American dream for?”

Bob Beaudette, 79, Phoenix

— A retired IRS agent who voted for Trump

“That dream has evaporated a little bit. Most people I know are trying to live, paycheck to paycheck, and stay alive. It seems like the middle class is disintegrating. Real estate is out of control. I don’t know how young people are going to make it.”

David Hite, 63, Bay Area, California

— A venture capital firm co-founder who voted for Harris

“Something that’s important to me personally is autonomy and individuality. And so the pursuit of the American dream for me is the pursuit of one’s own individuality while respecting others.”

Polly Mann, 62, Cottonwood, Arizona

— A retired banker who voted for Harris

“The United States is too big and too diverse for everyone to share the same dream. My version of the American dream is a country where democracy and voting rights for all is valued and seen as the core to our way of life.”

Ed Morell, 72, Cleveland

— A retiree who voted for Trump

“I think of the American dream as American freedom.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

© 2025 The New York Times Company