Dolly Parton Is the Most Popular Person in America, New Poll Finds

A new University of Massachusetts Lowell poll finds Dolly Parton is the most beloved public figure in America, with net favorables 83 points ahead of Donald Trump, who’d probably lose to Jolene in a landslide.

Parton has a net favorability of +65, 50 points higher than Barack Obama (+14) or Volodymyr Zelensky (+13), and more than 60 points above the just-barely-positive Taylor Swift (+3). Of course this doesn’t directly translate to popularity; a T-Swift tour will outsell Parton 100 times out of 100. The poll suggests that though Swift may be a juggernaut, nearly as many people loathe her as like her. With Dolly, there’s love everywhere you look.

While it’s just one poll, UMass Lowell is a reputable pollster; Silver Bulletin gives them an A-. Dolly is included in the questions in part because she’s an example of a genuinely beloved figure, which is rare in these often less-than United States. She’s used as a bar that no politicians seem able to reach. Even Swift at +3 far outpaces most national figures in office.

As for President Trump, his net favorables are at -18 in the poll, just a bit higher than former President Biden (-19) and a tad lower than Trump’s average in various polling aggregators. Most polls show Trump getting less popular, with the New York Times net average dropping from -12 to -16 just this year.

Vladimir Putin ranks at the bottom according to Americans, and his -65 makes him a funhouse version of Dolly and her +65. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t fare much better at -43, and then we get a long stretch of 2028 presidential hopefuls who might have a lot of work to do to actually get to the White House: Gavin Newsom (-14), Kamala Harris (-11), JD Vance (-10), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (-6) and Marco Rubio (-3). For comparison, Biden hovered around  +5 before his victory in 2020, and Trump wavered around -4 in 2024. Get a look at some of the poll results below, and once again the full link is here.

Meanwhile, Parton continues to get her flowers. Earlier this year, Tennessee celebrated Dolly Parton Day and East Tennessee Children’s Hospital was renamed the Dolly Parton Children’s Hospital.

UMass Lowell: Favorability of Public Figures

🟢 Dolly Parton: (+65)
🟢 Barack Obama: (+14)
🟢 Volodymyr Zelenskyy: (+13)
🟢 Bernie Sanders: (+6)
🟢 George W. Bush: (+5)
🟢 Taylor Swift: (+3)
——
🟤 Marco Rubio: (-3)
🟤 AOC: (-6)
🟤 John Thune: (-8)
🟤 Kamala Harris: (-11)
🟤 JD… pic.twitter.com/l5IxQdyW8W

— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) April 9, 2026