For the first time, less than 50 percent of respondents rated clergy “high” or “very high,” with 47 percent of 2013 respondents rating clergy in these categories.

Americans ranked clergy and other professions based on perceptions of their ethics and honesty in a December 2013 Gallup poll.

“Gallup has asked Americans to rate the honesty and ethical standards of members of various professions periodically since 1976, and annually since 1990,” the report noted.

For the first time, less than 50 percent of respondents rated clergy “high” or “very high,” with 47 percent of 2013 respondents rating clergy in these categories.

The inaugural survey in 1977 found 60 percent of respondents rating clergy “high” to “very high.” Positive perceptions of clergy peaked in 1985 at 67 percent.

America’s view of clergy declined through the remainder of the 1980s and reached a low of 54 percent in 1993.

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