SurveyUSA comes out ahead on 5 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.
| Measure | Beacon Research/Shaw & Co. | SurveyUSA |
|---|---|---|
| Trust Score | 59/100 | 82/100 ★ |
| Average error how far final polls missed the result | 4.4 pts | 4.2 pts ★ |
| Versus expected error compared with what its races predicted | 0 better | 0.9 better ★ |
| Consistency random miss once its tilt is removed | ±4 pts ★ | ±4.2 pts |
| Historical bias closer to even is better | D+2.2 | Even ★ |
| Winners called | 67% | 87% ★ |
| Track record final polls analyzed, 1998–2022 | 42 polls | 698 polls |
| 2026 polls | 21 | 4 |
| 2026 lean versus other polls of the same races | D+0.8 | — |
Compare them in the interactive Trust Index All pollster ratings
More comparisons: Beacon Research/Shaw & Co. Research vs. YouGov · SurveyUSA vs. YouGov · Beacon Research/Shaw & Co. Research vs. Emerson College · Emerson College vs. SurveyUSA · Beacon Research/Shaw & Co. Research vs. University of New Hampshire Survey Center · SurveyUSA vs. University of New Hampshire Survey Center · Beacon Research/Shaw & Co. Research vs. New York Times/Siena College · New York Times/Siena College vs. SurveyUSA
SurveyUSA has the smaller average error (4.2 pts vs. 4.4 pts). Overall, surveyUSA comes out ahead on 5 of 6 measures in the Crosstab Trust Index (Beacon Research/Shaw & Co.: B, Trust Score 59; SurveyUSA: A, Trust Score 82).
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.