Pollster ratings · Head to head

ABC/Washington Post vs. Selzer: which pollster is more accurate?

Selzer comes out ahead on 6 of 6 measures in the Crosstab Trust Index, which grades pollsters on how close their final polls came to actual results from 1998 to 2022.

 
ABC News/The Washington Post
A
Trust Score 80/100 · rank #6
★ Ahead
Selzer & Co.
A+
Trust Score 94/100 · rank #1

Head to head

MeasureABC/Washington PostSelzer
Trust Score80/10094/100 ★
Average error
how far final polls missed the result
3.1 pts2.7 pts ★
Versus expected
error compared with what its races predicted
1.1 better2.1 better ★
Consistency
random miss once its tilt is removed
±3 pts±2.7 pts ★
Historical bias
closer to even is better
D+1.5D+0.3 ★
Winners called67%89% ★
Track record
final polls analyzed, 1998–2022
69 polls35 polls
2026 polls2—

Compare them in the interactive Trust Index All pollster ratings

More comparisons: Selzer & Co. vs. YouGov · ABC News/The Washington Post vs. YouGov · Emerson College vs. Selzer & Co. · ABC News/The Washington Post vs. Emerson College · Selzer & Co. vs. University of New Hampshire Survey Center · ABC News/The Washington Post vs. University of New Hampshire Survey Center · New York Times/Siena College vs. Selzer & Co. · ABC News/The Washington Post vs. New York Times/Siena College

Frequently asked questions

Which is more accurate, ABC/Washington Post or Selzer?

Selzer has the smaller average error (2.7 pts vs. 3.1 pts). Overall, selzer comes out ahead on 6 of 6 measures in the Crosstab Trust Index (ABC/Washington Post: A, Trust Score 80; Selzer: A+, Trust Score 94).

Grades: Crosstab Trust Index, computed from FiveThirtyEight's pollster-ratings data (CC BY 4.0), 1998–2022; 2026 measures from Crosstab's polling data.

Updated 2026-10-04 · Crosstab, nonpartisan polling analysis.