State of the State Survey
Summer 2017
Charles L. Ballard
Professor, Department of Economics
Director, State of the State Survey
Institute for Public Policy and Social Research
517.353.2961
State of the State Survey
Summer 2017
Michigan Residents Give
Thumbs Up to Economy,
Thumbs Down to Elected Leaders
About SOSS Wave 74
954 Interviews Completed
April 19, 2017 – July 30, 2017
Margin of Error: + 3.17%
Male: 48.4% Female: 51.6%
White: 75.5% Black: 13.4%
President Trump received a rating
of “excellent” or “good” from
28% of Michigan residents.
That’s lower than Clinton or
Obama ever received, but higher
than George W. Bush received in
his last two years in office.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Excellent Good Fair Poor
8.6
19.4 20.6
51.4
Pe
rce
nt
Michigan Residents' Ratings of President Trump's Performance, Summer 2017
35.4
44.3
49.5
56.0
53.0
55.1
40.8
66.9
47.4
42.3
32.4
27.5
20.5
17.3
57.7
36.9
43.1
41.5
44.0
37.6 39.5
43.0
49.6
28.0
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Pe
rce
nt
Percentage of Michigan Residents Rating U.S. President's Performance as "Excellent" or "Good," 1995-2017
Clinton
Bush
Obama
Trump
We asked about President
Trump’s ban on travel from six
Muslim-majority countries:
Response Percentage
Strongly approve 21.0
Somewhat approve 20.3
Somewhat disapprove 16.6
Strong disapprove 40.4
Percent
Rating Trump
Opinion of the “Excellent” or
Travel Ban: “Good”
Strongly Approve 76.1
Somewhat Approve 38.7
Somewhat Disapprove 35.6
Strongly Disapprove 17.1
Governor Snyder’s approval
ratings improved slightly,
but his favorable ratings
remained below 30%.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Excellent Good Fair Poor
5.2
24.1
37.0
33.7
Pe
rce
nt Michigan Residents' Ratings of
Governor Snyder's Performance, Summer 2017
44.5
31.5
19.3
33.0
36.8 35.5 34.0
29.2
35.6
39.2 37.1 37.9
35.6
41.8
25.3 25.2
29.3
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Pe
rce
nt
Percentage of Michigan Residents Rating Governor Snyder's Performance as "Excellent" or "Good," 2011-2017
55.0
50.6
46.7
52.5
49.5
43.7 43.6
57.2
48.7
35.3
34.4
25.3
23.0
31.0
20.7
31.8
35.1
32.9
38.1 38.7
25.3 25.2
29.3
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Pe
rce
nt
Year
Percentage of Michigan Residents Rating Performance of Governors as "Excellent" or "Good," 1995-2016
Engler
Granholm
Snyder
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Excellent Good Fair Poor
8.6
19.4 20.6
51.4
5.2
24.1
37.0 33.7
Pe
rce
nt
Michigan Residents' Ratings of the Performances of President Trump and Governor Snyder,
Summer 2017
Trump
Snyder
Attitudes by
Race and Gender
Views of Michigan Residents
by Race and Sex
State of Michigan
Women Men Whites Blacks
Trump
“Excellent” or “Good”
28.0% 22.8% 33.3% 31.1% 7.7%
Snyder
“Excellent” or “Good”
29.3% 26.2% 32.5% 31.6% 12.2%
Attitudes by Political Party
Views of Michigan
Residents
by Political Party
State of
Michigan Republican Independent Democrat
Trump
“Excellent” or
“Good” 28.0% 69.3% 28.4% 2.7%
Snyder
“Excellent” or
“Good” 29.3% 57.4% 31.8% 9.2%
Regional Attitudes
Views of Residents from Different Regions in Michigan
* Allegan, Barry, Ionia, Kent, Montcalm, Muskegon, Newaygo, and Ottawa Counties
State of Michigan
City of Detroit
Wayne, Oakland, Macomb
Grand Rapids Area*
Trump
“Excellent” or “Good”
28.0% 14.7% 28.0% 29.8%
Snyder
“Excellent” or “Good”
29.3% 14.4% 31.6% 26.7%
Assessments of the current
financial situation continued the
upward trend of the last 8 years.
The percentage saying “excellent”
or “good” rose to its highest
level since 2002.
13.5
48.8
28.8
6.4
2.6
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Excellent Good Just Fair Not So Good Poor
Perc
en
t Michigan Residents' Assessments of Their Current Financial Situation,
Summer 2017
55.1
60.9
60.2
61.4
64.1 63.9 62.9
62.2
54.0
56.4
54.9
49.3 50.8
43.4 44.0
47.3 47.3
52.1 52.8
51.9
58.9
56.9 58.2
62.3
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
Pe
rce
nt
Year
Percent of Michigan Residents Who Rate Their Current Financial Situation As "Excellent" or "Good," 1994-2017
When asked whether they
are better off than one year
ago, Michigan residents
gave ratings that were
slightly better than in the
previous round.
47.8
31.5
20.7
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Better Off About the Same Worse Off
Pe
rce
nt
Michigan Residents' Beliefs About Whether They Are Better Off Than One Year Ago, Summer 2017
52.6
50.2
53.2 55.8
61.6
48.4
40.2
35.4
31.7
27.4
19.8
14.4
23.0 26.2
36.3
38.1
49.7
43.8
44.9
47.8
18.5
17.7
18.1
14.3
15.2
24.2
31.8
44.5 44.6
59.6
62.6
50.6
45.1
35.6
34.6
31.3
23.0 25.9
21.9
20.7
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Pe
rce
nt
Year
Michigan Residents' Beliefs About Whether They Are Better Off or Worse Off Than One Year Ago, 1995-2017
Better Off
Worse Off
Michigan residents’ assessment of
whether they will be better off
one year from now declined
somewhat from the previous
survey.
56.7
21.9 21.4
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Better Off About the Same Worse Off
Perc
en
t
Michigan Residents' Beliefs About Whether They Will Be Better Off One Year From Now, Summer 2017
57.2 58.6
65.9
66.6
70.5
60.0
66.2
59.8 60.1
50.5
51.4
45.1 46.4
48.6
54.0
48.4
56.9
54.2
56.9
64.0
58.7
60.7
56.7
13.1
12.3 11.9 9.5
10.7
19.9
14.7
19.1
20.1
26.1
29.2
35.5 34.7 33.1
28.5
30.4
23.2
25.8
21.9 16.9 19.0
16.7
21.4
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Pe
rce
nt
Year
Michigan Residents' Beliefs About Whether They Will Be Better Off One Year From Now, 1995-2017
Better Off
Worse Off
For all three of these
measures of consumer
confidence, the ratings
are much better than in
2006-2011, but still lower
than in 1999.
Reports of current financial situation, for
different groups of Michigan residents:
“Excellent” “Not So Good”
or “Good” or “Poor”
State of Michigan 62.3% 8.9%
Men 63.9 7.9
Women 60.7 9.9
White 65.4 8.6
Black 39.1 13.0
Reports of current financial situation, for
different groups of Michigan residents: “Excellent” “Not So Good”
or “Good” or “Poor”
State of Michigan 62.3% 8.9%
Republican 78.9 2.7
Independent 61.7 8.1
Democrat 55.7 13.0
Income Above $100K 85.4 1.6
Income $50K - $100K 72.4 4.4
Income $20K - $50K 43.4 14.0
Income Below $20K 23.7 28.9
Reports of current financial situation, for
different groups of Michigan residents: “Excellent” “Not So Good”
or “Good” or “Poor”
State of Michigan 62.3% 8.9%
Aged 65 and Over 69.7 6.2
Aged 30-64 59.8 11.4
Aged 18-29 63.9 3.1
City of Detroit 59.4 12.7
Wayne, Oakland, Macomb 63.6 17.7
Grand Rapids Area 67.1 5.7
How to Learn More about SOSS:
http://ippsr.msu.edu/SOSS/
Charles Ballard: [email protected]
517.353.2961
Matt Grossmann: [email protected]
517.884.8640
Cynthia Kyle: [email protected]
517.353.1731
Graham Pierce: [email protected]
517.884.0364
THANK YOU!
