Rasmussen Reports

Rasmussen Reports /ˈræsˌmʌsən/ is an American polling company founded in 2003. The company engages in political commentary and the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information. Rasmussen Reports conducts nightly tracking, at national and state levels, of elections, politics, current events, consumer confidence, business topics, and the United States president's job approval ratings. Surveys by the company are conducted using a combination of automated public opinion polling involving pre-recorded telephone inquiries and an online survey. The company generates revenue by selling advertising and subscriptions to its polling survey data.

Rasmussen has been questioned for its methodology and for an apparent bias toward the Republican Party. In 2024, 538 dropped Rasmussen from its polling averages and analysis, saying Rasmussen failed to meet 538's standards for pollsters.

Rasmussen Reports was founded in 2003 by Scott Rasmussen, who served as the company's president from its founding until July 2013, when he left to found the digital media company Styrk.

Rasmussen founded his first polling company in 1994. That company, Rasmussen Research, was bought by TownPagesNet.com for about $4.5 million in ordinary shares in 1999. Starting in 1999, Rasmussen's poll was called Portrait of America. In 2003, Rasmussen founded Rasmussen Reports, based in Asbury Park, New Jersey. In August 2009, The Washington Post reported that Rasmussen Reports had received a “major growth capital investment.” New Jersey Business magazine reported that the company increased the size of its staff later that year.

Rasmussen Reports engages in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information, tracking the political world, current events, consumer confidence, business topics, and the president's job approval ratings. Rasmussen Reports also conducts nightly national tracking polls and scheduled state surveys. The company provides commentary and political analysis through a daily email newsletter. In September 2012, Rasmussen Reports and Telco Productions launched a nationally syndicated television show called What America Thinks With Scott Rasmussen.

For surveys such as its daily Presidential Tracking Poll, Rasmussen's automated technology calls randomly selected phone numbers, ensuring geographic representation. Surveys can be targeted towards American adults or towards likely voters, which are determined through screening questions. In polling conducted as of 2010, Rasmussen utilized landline-only polling without attempting callbacks. In these polls, Rasmussen also did not conduct within-household selection methods, instead relying on weighting to compensate for the sample. To reach those who have abandoned landlines, Rasmussen has utilized online survey tool interviews with randomly selected participants from a demographically diverse panel. Rasmussen's automated surveys are conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, a firm that licensed methodology developed by Scott Rasmussen. Polling data is weighted by adjusting for demographic variables, including age, gender, political affiliation, and race.

Rasmussen Reports generates revenue by selling advertising and subscriptions.

According to Nate Silver in 2010, automated polling methods like Rasmussen's have been found to be more favorable towards Republicans when compared to polls conducted with traditional methods involving live interviewers. FiveThirtyEight gave Rasmussen a C+ rating before excluding Rasmussen from its poll tracking. Rasmussen is not a member of the National Council on Public Polls or a supporter of the American Association for Public Opinion Research's Transparency Initiative.