Pollster ratings · Head to head

Rasmussen vs. SurveyUSA: which pollster is more accurate?

SurveyUSA 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.

 
Rasmussen Reports
C
Trust Score 27/100 · rank #59
★ Ahead
SurveyUSA
A
Trust Score 82/100 · rank #4

Head to head

MeasureRasmussenSurveyUSA
Trust Score27/10082/100 ★
Average error
how far final polls missed the result
4.9 pts4.2 pts ★
Versus expected
error compared with what its races predicted
0.3 worse0.9 better ★
Consistency
random miss once its tilt is removed
±4.7 pts±4.2 pts ★
Historical bias
closer to even is better
D+1.7Even ★
Winners called67%87% ★
Track record
final polls analyzed, 1998–2022
139 polls698 polls
2026 polls194
2026 lean
versus other polls of the same races
D+0.6—

Compare them in the interactive Trust Index All pollster ratings

More comparisons: Rasmussen Reports vs. YouGov · SurveyUSA vs. YouGov · Emerson College vs. Rasmussen Reports · Emerson College vs. SurveyUSA · Rasmussen Reports vs. University of New Hampshire Survey Center · SurveyUSA vs. University of New Hampshire Survey Center · New York Times/Siena College vs. Rasmussen Reports · New York Times/Siena College vs. SurveyUSA

Frequently asked questions

Which is more accurate, Rasmussen or SurveyUSA?

SurveyUSA has the smaller average error (4.2 pts vs. 4.9 pts). Overall, surveyUSA comes out ahead on 6 of 6 measures in the Crosstab Trust Index (Rasmussen: C, Trust Score 27; 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.