The final SPACE City Panel report from this quarter compares residents’ perspectives on Houston and Chicago.
Key Takeaways
- A new University of Houston survey shows affordability is the top economic concern for residents in both Houston and Chicago, with high costs of living, stagnant wages and wealth inequality dominating public sentiment.
- Pessimism about the economy is widespread, as large majorities in both cities believe the nation is headed in the wrong direction, reflecting broader declines in consumer confidence.
- Despite shared concerns, perceptions vary by geography and party, with Houstonians more pessimistic about their state, Chicagoans more negative about the nation’s direction and sharp partisan divides shaping views in both cities.
A new survey from the University of Houston found affordability dominates economic concerns of respondents in Chicago and Houston, the third- and fourth-largest cities in the U.S., respectively.
The findings were released as part of the SPACE City Panel from the Hobby School of Public Affairs’ Center for Public Policy, in partnership with the ChicagoSpeaks Poll conducted by NORC, formerly the National Opinion Research Center, at the University of Chicago. The survey compares residents’ sentiments about local, state and national conditions, including top economic challenges.
Affordability concerns in Houston and Chicago mirror recent national trends. The Conference Board reported that the Consumer Confidence Index fell 9.7 points in January to 84.5 — its lowest level since 2014. This signals increased pessimism about the economy, employment, income and business and labor market conditions.
“National pessimism and affordability concerns dominate in both cities, but Houston’s lower costs and stronger growth give residents a slightly more positive view of local conditions,” said Maria P. Perez Arguelles, research assistant professor at the Hobby School and the report’s lead author.
Affordability Concerns
Respondents in both cities cited high cost of living, wages not keeping up with the cost of living and inequality and wealth disparity as their top three economic concerns.
“Affordability is the core issue in both cities: Houstonians worry about wages falling behind, while Chicagoans focus on the high cost of living,” Perez Arguelles said.
Nearly eight in 10 Chicago residents (79%) identified high cost of living as a top concern, compared to 73% of Houstonians. This aligns with cost-of-living data showing Chicago’s cost of living is about 5% above the national average, while Houston’s is roughly 6% below average. Low wages were also a major concern in both cities, cited by 78% of Houstonians and 77% of Chicagoans.
Other findings include:
- About half of respondents cited inequality and wealth disparity as a top concern, including 49% of Houstonians and 53% of Chicagoans.
- A higher share of Houston women than men reported concern about wages not keeping up with the cost of living — 35% compared to 31%.
- Among Chicago residents age 60 and older, a majority (51%) identified high cost of living as their top economic concern.
Digging Deeper
National pessimism was high in both cities, though Chicago residents expressed slightly more concern about the country’s direction. Nearly nine in 10 Chicagoans (86%) believe the U.S. is headed in the wrong direction, compared to 80% of Houstonians.
“People tend to be more optimistic when their party governs, and those partisan alignments play out very differently in Houston and Chicago,” Perez Arguelles said.
At the state level, Houstonians expressed greater pessimism than Chicago respondents. Nearly three-quarters of Houstonians (74%) believe their state is headed in the wrong direction, compared to 51% of Chicago residents. However, residents of both cities were equally pessimistic about the direction of their cities: 58% said Houston is headed in the wrong direction, compared to 60% in Chicago.
Partisan polarization was evident in both cities, with slightly larger perception gaps among Houston respondents. More than 60% of Houston Republicans believe local, state and national conditions are headed in the right direction. In contrast, 93% of Houston Democrats, 84% of independents and 37% of Republicans believe the country is headed in the wrong direction.
“People tend to be more optimistic when their party governs, and those partisan alignments play out very differently in Houston and Chicago.”
—Maria P. Perez Arguelles, UH's Hobby School of Public Affairs
In Chicago, partisan divides were also pronounced. About 92% of Democrats believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, compared to 81% of independents and 56% of Republicans. On the state level, a majority of Chicago Democrats (56%) believe Illinois is headed in the right direction, compared to just 15% of Republicans and 26% of independents.
“The results show a public that feels economically squeezed and politically disconnected, a warning sign leaders can’t ignore,” said Gail Buttorff, research associate professor and associate director of the Center for Public Policy.
The report is part of a broader research collaboration between the Hobby School’s Center for Public Policy and NORC aimed at comparing public perceptions across cities. Researchers said the findings serve as a foundation for future analyses across additional policy areas and metropolitan regions.
The full report is available on the Hobby School website. The survey was conducted in December and January and is the final SPACE City Panel report for the quarter. Previous reports focused on perceptions of Education Savings Accounts and political campaign donation trends.