Pollster ratings · Head to head

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

ABC/Washington Post comes out ahead on 3 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.

★ Ahead
ABC News/The Washington Post
A
Trust Score 80/100 · rank #6
 
University of Massachusetts Lowell Center for Public Opinion
A
Trust Score 80/100 · rank #5

Head to head

MeasureABC/Washington PostUMass Lowell
Trust Score80/10080/100
Average error
how far final polls missed the result
3.1 pts ★3.4 pts
Versus expected
error compared with what its races predicted
1.1 better1.5 better ★
Consistency
random miss once its tilt is removed
±3 pts ★±3.3 pts
Historical bias
closer to even is better
D+1.5 ★D+1.6
Winners called67%85% ★
Track record
final polls analyzed, 1998–2022
69 polls21 polls
2026 polls21

Compare them in the interactive Trust Index All pollster ratings

More comparisons: University of Massachusetts Lowell Center for Public Opinion vs. YouGov · ABC News/The Washington Post vs. YouGov · Emerson College vs. University of Massachusetts Lowell Center for Public Opinion · ABC News/The Washington Post vs. Emerson College · University of Massachusetts Lowell Center for Public Opinion 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. University of Massachusetts Lowell Center for Public Opinion · ABC News/The Washington Post vs. New York Times/Siena College

Frequently asked questions

Which is more accurate, ABC/Washington Post or UMass Lowell?

ABC/Washington Post has the smaller average error (3.1 pts vs. 3.4 pts). Overall, aBC/Washington Post comes out ahead on 3 of 6 measures in the Crosstab Trust Index (ABC/Washington Post: A, Trust Score 80; UMass Lowell: A, Trust Score 80).

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.