Each August, the research company Gallup surveys American perceptions of major industries (including the federal government). The top-scoring industries for the past 16 years — restaurants and computers — are both competitive ones that offer Americans enjoyment and efficiency while not stirring up major political controversies, according to Gallup. Observation: Restaurants are among the most visible category of Main Street small businesses while computers are among the largest companies in the world. This indicates that American consumers rank their perceptions of major industries on factors related to a wide range of factors, not just size.

Top-ranked U.S. industries (positive perception)

At a time of persistently low public trust in the federal government, it is encouraging that Americans tend to view most of the 25 major U.S. business and industry sectors positively. Further, 10 of these — ranging from some of the nation’s oldest to some of its newest industries — enjoy solidly positive ratings.

Mid-ranked U.S. industries (positive to neutral perception)

Americans view another 10 industries no worse than neutrally, but in most cases net-positively. The telephone and airline industries lead this group, and it includes several entertainment and communication-related arenas: sports, movies, television and radio, publishing and advertising. Electric and gas utilities, education and banking also make this list.

Bottom-ranked U.S. business sectors (negative perception)

The bottom five industries are all reviewed more negatively than positively, with three — the federal government, pharmaceuticals and healthcare — receiving negative ratings from more than half of the public. The legal field plus oil and gas have just slightly higher negative than positive ratings. While fairly typical for the legal field, this represents a significantly improved positioning for the oil and gas industry, which had skewed strongly negative from 2004 through 2014.

VIA | Gallup.com, “Restaurants Again Voted Most Popular U.S. Industry“