Citizen satisfaction with U.S. Federal government services continued to improve in 2024, advancing 2.2 percent to a score of 69.7, and marking a seven-year high.
The increase is being led by an uptick in satisfaction with Federal processes and information, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) Federal Government Report 2024 released today.
With the 2024 increase, the government has experienced its largest four-year gain – net 9.9 percent – since the ACSI began measuring citizen satisfaction in 1999.
“Citizens are the happiest they’ve been with federal government services since 2017 – and for good reason,” said Forrest Morgeson, director of research emeritus at the ACSI. “The efficiency and ease of government processes and the ease of accessing and clarity of information – two key satisfaction drivers – improve year over year.”
The ACSI Federal Government Study 2024 is based on 5,769 completed surveys. Respondents were chosen at random and contacted via email throughout the year.
The survey is based on four citizen satisfaction drivers – process, information, customer service, and website – which saw exponential gains from 2022 to 2023, but saw little improvements this year.
Specifically, citizens reported improvements in the efficiency and ease of government processes – from a score of 70, to 71 – and the ease of accessing and clarity of information – up from 72, to 73. Assessments of the courtesy and professionalism of customer service remained the same year over year at 78, while perceptions of government website quality declined by a point after making a large 13 percent gain last year.
Of the 12 Federal agencies reported by the ACSI, the Office of Personnel Management has the highest satisfaction score of 76. On the other end of the spectrum sits the Department of the Treasury, with the government’s lowest ACSI score of 61.
When it comes to interacting with Federal government websites or call centers, the message is clear: the online experience is better.
The call center satisfaction index sits at 62, while the website satisfaction index is 10 points higher at 72.
Meanwhile, over the past four years, complaints filed by citizens with the Federal government have risen exponentially. However, ACSI data shows that the Federal government’s ability to handle complaints has improved 15 points over the past three years and now sits at 66. That’s better than 18 industries measured by the ACSI, including subscription TV service, food delivery, internet service providers, social media, and automobiles.
The overall citizen satisfaction score of 69.7 for 2024 is the highest since it reached 69.7 in 2017. ACSI has administered the survey every year since 1999, with 2021 proving to be an all-time low with a score of 63.4 and 2006 ringing in the all-time high at a score of 72.3.
“These changes and improvements have been years in the making through
new laws, executive orders, and mandates that have been instrumental to improving federal government satisfaction,” ACSI said.
In 2018, President Trump signed the bipartisan 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act into law. It directs the Federal government to improve the digital experience for government customers. Agencies were required to modernize websites, digitize services and forms, accelerate use of e-signatures, and adopt shared standards and services.
President Biden issued his customer experience executive order in December 2021. Additionally, one of the main priorities in the Biden-Harris administration’s President’s Management Agenda was to deliver excellent, equitable, and secure Federal services and customer experience.
