The average CX Index score of the US federal government declined statistically significantly compared to 2025 and reached the lowest federal average since 2018.

 

This is evident from Forrester's annual US Customer Experience Index (CX Index), which benchmarks the quality of the customer experience across eleven sectors plus the U.S. federal government. The ranking is based on an annual survey of 95.573 respondents and has been conducted since 2016.

The U.S. federal government was one of the three sectors that showed a decline in 2026, along with airlines and credit card issuers. The U.S. federal government traditionally ranks at the bottom of the sectors surveyed by Forrester.

Six other sectors in the business community showed an improvement. The private sector average also rose for the first time in four years. This widens the gap between customers' experiences with federal government services and with the business community.

Forrester has also broken down the CX Index by various government organizations. Seven government departments showed a statistically significant decline; not a single government institution improved. The highest score once again went to the National Park Service (NPS), which has topped the lists for ten years, with a score of 74,0. The Bureau of Consular Affairs stands at a distance (with a difference of 9,7 points). Structural laggards are USAJOBS.gov and HealthCare.gov, with comparable scores of 48,9 and 48,4, respectively.

 

(Forrester)

Customer Experience