Americans’ optimism about the direction of the country has dropped nearly 20 points, according to the latest ABC News/Ipsos poll.

Currently, 45 per cent of those surveyed were optimistic about where the country was heading to by next year, while 55 per cent were pessimistic.

This marked a nearly 20-point decline in optimism from late April, the last time this question was asked.

At that time, 64 per cent were optimistic about the year ahead.

This growing pessimism is happening across all age groups, income levels, educational attainment and partisan affiliation, the survey showed.

The decline is also occurring across the board among Democrats, Republicans and independents.

This poll was conducted on July 23 and July 24 based on a nationally representative probability sample of 527 general population adults aged 18 or older.