Houstonians are not confident in the economy, per new Kinder survey
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Houston-area residents are increasingly pessimistic about the local economy, job prospects and their own financial stability, per the 45th annual Rice University Kinder Houston Area Survey released this week.
The big picture: Houstonians, like Americans more broadly, are feeling financial strain as inflation and everyday costs remain high — with more residents saying they're "finding it difficult to get by" or "just getting by," per the report.
- Nearly 9,000 people were surveyed from Harris, Fort Bend and Montgomery counties. Launched in 1982, the report tracks attitudes across the Houston area.
State of play: The share of residents rating job opportunities as "good" or "excellent" dropped nearly 30% — the sharpest one-year decline since the 1980s.
Stunning stat: Lower- and middle-income Houston-area households are feeling the strain most, per the report.
- About 79% of residents earning less than $25,000 say they would need to borrow money or couldn't cover a $400 emergency expense this year, up from 72% last year.
- The biggest jump came among households earning $50,000 to $99,999, where the share of people who say they'd be unable to cover the unexpected expense rose from 30% to 39% year over year.
What they're saying: "In 2025, confidence in the Houston economy experienced the largest single-year decline among Harris County residents since the 1982 oil crisis," per the report.
- "Concern with the environment and environmental issues remained high — a reminder that in addition to worry about the next storm, the area also has perennial challenges of pollutants and contaminants that come with being a large metro region."
What they also found: More than 7 in 10 residents report being moderately to extremely concerned about extreme weather, and more than 6 in 10 are moderately to extremely concerned about pollutants in their community.
Worthy of your time: A new focus of the survey this year was on social connections, showing they play a major role in residents' well-being.
- Stronger ties are linked to better physical and mental health, greater economic mobility and a stronger sense of safety — often more than actual crime rates.