Nurses are still the most-trusted professionals in the U.S., according to Gallup’s annual poll of Americans’ views on the honesty and ethics of occupational groups.

During a year in which medical workers have been even more in the spotlight because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the trust that Americans have with nurses has only gotten stronger. In fact, nurses set a new record in 2020 with 89% of respondents reporting high or very high trust, up from a previous record of 85% in 2019.

Medical doctors’ rating also improved in the past year, rising 12 points to 77%, while pharmacists’ honesty and ethics rating is up seven points to 71%.

The latest results are based on a Dec. 1-17 Gallup poll in which Americans were asked to rate the honesty and ethics of 15 different occupational groups as very high, high, average, low or very low. Gallup first conducted its Honesty and Ethics poll in 1976 and has updated it annually since 1990. A handful of professions have been on the list every year, while Gallup asks about others periodically.

Nurses have topped the list in all but one year since they were added in 1999. The exception is 2001, when firefighters were measured on a one-time basis shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and received a 90% mark, the highest score to date for any profession.

Grade-school teachers (the only category of teachers measured) are the next-highest-rated profession, with 75% rating their ethics very high or high.

Members of Congress and car salespeople tie for last, with just 8% rating them highly.

For more information about the Gallup poll, please click here.