As the Fourth of July holiday approaches, Americans are increasingly pessimistic about the future of their country, despite a small uptick in pride in America since last year.

A new survey from Fox News, Beacon Research, and Shaw and Company Research found that for the first time since the survey question was added in 2009, more Americans think the country’s best days are “behind us” rather than ahead.

The survey found that 43 percent of Americans feel like the nation’s best days are ahead of us while 48 percent think they are in the past.

In 2009, 57 percent of Americans reported thinking the best days were ahead, compared to 33 percent who said they were in the past. Optimism reached its peak in 2012, when 63 percent said the best days are ahead; 26 percent said they are in the past.

The decline in optimism since 2012 is driven by the increasingly pessimistic views of Republicans, whose optimism has declined by 29 points since 2012.

With that being said, the decline in optimism is widespread, with women’s optimism dropping by 24 points, independents’ optimism down by 22 points,  and white voters’ optimism falling by 20 points.

Voters under age 30 and older than 65 also saw a 19-point drop in optimism each. Men and Democrats saw relatively smaller declines, of 15 points and 12 points each.

Pride in America, though, ticked up modestly since last year’s pre-Fourth of July survey. Last year only 39 percent of Americans said they were proud of America. Today 44 percent report feeling that way.

Americans were most proud of their country in 2011, when 69 percent reported feeling that way. This statistic reached its nadir in 2022 when only 39 percent reported being proud of America.

Driving the uptick in pride in America since last year are Democrats and men, who each saw an 8-point improvement in their feelings of pride. Voters over 65 years old saw the third-largest increase in prideful feelings since last year, 16 points.

Despite sometimes mixed feelings about the direction of the country, most Americans, 64 percent, still report that this is the best country to live in, compared to 33 percent who say it is not.

This statistic of national pride is, however, also on the decline. The percentage of Americans who reported feeling like America is the best country to live in dropped 20 points since its high in 2011. Meanwhile, the percentage of people who feel like it’s not the best country to live in rose 21 points, from 12 percent.