WASHINGTON — Finally, something that polarized Americans can agree on.

Ask people what economic issues will be important for the next president, and Democrats, Republicans and independents all put a high priority on protecting Social Security and reducing unemployment.

Beyond that, their lists of top economic concerns for the next president are more fractured, according to a poll conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Democrats attach far more importance than do Republicans to narrowing the gap between rich and poor, reducing poverty and increasing wages to keep up with the cost of living.

Republicans, in turn, place far more importance than do Democrats on shrinking the federal deficit, reducing government regulation and reforming welfare.

So, while Americans of all stripes consistently put the economy at or near the top of their lists of most important issues, they may have different concerns in mind when they do so.

Overall, the AP-NORC poll found 85 percent of Americans think protecting the future of Social Security is extremely or very important for the next president, and 81 percent said the same for reducing unemployment.

There's a valid reason for their concerns about Social Security: The retirement and disability program has enough money to pay full benefits until 2034, after which it will only have enough money to pay about 75 percent of benefits.

Over the next 75 years, Social Security is projected to pay out $159 trillion more in benefits than it will collect in taxes, according to agency data.

The employment outlook is considerably brighter: The economy created 151,000 jobs in January, pushing the unemployment rate down to an eight-year low of 4.9 percent.

Looking at the poll results by party, Republicans were most likely to single out reducing the federal deficit as an item that is extremely important or very important for the next president, with 86 percent highlighting that concern.

President Barack Obama's latest budget proposal sees the deficit rising from $438 billion last year to more than $500 billion for the 2017 budget year that starts Oct. 1. Deficits over the coming decade would total $6 trillion.

Among Democrats, protecting Social Security was a top concern for 89 percent, reducing poverty was highlighted by 86 percent and reducing unemployment was singled out by 84 percent.

The poverty rate held steady in 2013 and 2014 at 14.8 percent. It had dropped from 15 percent in 2012, the first such drop since 2006.

Even where there's common ground among voters on top issues, there's no unanimity among Americans about who's best equipped to tackle those problems.

Count Randy Werner, a retired factory worker in Manitowoc, Wis., among those worried about Social Security.

Among his concerns: He thinks too many people are drawing disability benefits from the system, some of them “more than capable of working.”

A Democrat who says he's moving toward being an independent, Werner likes some of what he hears from Republican businessman Donald Trump but isn't sure who he'll vote for in the presidential race.

Heather Kinnaman, a 50-year-old disabled veteran from Albuquerque, N.M., is equally worried about Social Security but leaning toward Hillary Clinton. Kinnaman is not confident any of the candidates can do well with the economy but sees Clinton as “the lesser of the evils to me.”

Edward Vasquez, an engineer from Odessa, Texas, also says protecting Social Security is an extremely important item for the next president's to-do list.

“By the time I retire, it's going to be a broken promise,” the 44-year-old said.

In the presidential race, Vasquez said he's debating between Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Ben Carson and John Kasich.

The AP-NORC poll of 1,008 adults was conducted Jan. 14-17. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.