As a group, the 100 women and men that currently hold down the title of United States Senator are not held in very high regard across the country.

According to a recent Gallup poll, a stunning 75%-80% of Americans disapprove of the way Congress has handled its job so far in 2022.

Ranked individually though, the numbers tell a very different story and bode very well for South Dakota's two senators.

KSOO-AM / ESPN Sioux Falls logo
Get our free mobile app

24/7 Wall St., using the latest polling data from Morning Consult, found that Senators John Thune and Mike Rounds from the Mount Rushmore State have approval ratings among the highest on Capitol Hill - with Thune leading the way and Rounds fourth.

Senator Thune (62% approval rate) and Senator Rounds (61% approval rate) are among only five senators who are looked favorably upon by 60 percent or more of those surveyed.

MOST POPULAR U.S. SENATORS (Approval/Disapproval) 

  1. John Thune (R-South Dakota) - 62%/28%
  2. John Barrasso (R-Wyoming) - 62%/31%
  3. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) - 62%/34%
  4. Mike Rounds (R-South Dakota) - 61%/28%
  5. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming) - 60%/32%
  6. Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) - 59%/32%
  7. John Hoeven (R-North Dakota) - 58%/29%
  8. Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) - 57%/35%
  9. Angus King (I-Maine) - 56%/35%
  10. Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts) - 55%/28%

The popularity of both Senators Thune and Rounds is on the way up.

Thune saw an 11-point bump from the first quarter of 2021 to the first quarter of 2022. That increase is second only to Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia (+16%). Rounds' popularity is up 7 points, which is fifth-best.

The popularity polls are both the good news and the bad news for Republicans.

While the GOP has four of the five most popular senators, it also has eight of the top nine least popular senators in Washington DC.

LEAST POPULAR U.S. SENATORS (Disapproval/Approval) 

  1. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) - 60%/33%
  2. Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) - 51%/37%
  3. Susan Collins (R-Maine) - 49%/47%
  4. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) - 45%/45%
  5. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) - 44%-46%
  6. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) - 43%/48%
  7. Pat Toomey (R-Pennsylvania) - 43%/36%
  8. Mark Kelly (D-Arizona) - 43%/47%
  9. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) - 42%/48%
  10.  Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) - 42%/43%

LOOK: Things from the year you were born that don't exist anymore

The iconic (and at times silly) toys, technologies, and electronics have been usurped since their grand entrance, either by advances in technology or breakthroughs in common sense. See how many things on this list trigger childhood memories—and which ones were here and gone so fast you missed them entirely.

LOOK: Here are the pets banned in each state

Because the regulation of exotic animals is left to states, some organizations, including The Humane Society of the United States, advocate for federal, standardized legislation that would ban owning large cats, bears, primates, and large poisonous snakes as pets.

Read on to see which pets are banned in your home state, as well as across the nation.

READ ON: See the States Where People Live the Longest

Stacker used data from the 2020 County Health Rankings to rank every state's average life expectancy from lowest to highest. The 2020 County Health Rankings values were calculated using mortality counts from the 2016-2018 National Center for Health Statistics. The U.S. Census 2019 American Community Survey and America's Health Rankings Senior Report 2019 data were also used to provide demographics on the senior population of each state and the state's rank on senior health care, respectively.

Read on to learn the average life expectancy in each state.

[Newsletter]

More From KSOO-AM / ESPN Sioux Falls