Approximately 93% of recently surveyed mayors report the cost of living in their city has worsened over the last year.
Nearly 40% of the local leaders believe it has worsened significantly as they witness residents falling further behind as prices rise faster than their paychecks.
It’s no surprise that housing continues to be the most pressing affordability issue, with nearly 96% of the responding mayors citing housing costs as the primary affordability concern, reports the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
"Americans are feeling squeezed by the cost of housing, groceries, utilities, and other everyday necessities," said San Diego mayor and USCM president Todd Gloria. "Mayors see this every day in our communities, and we're doing what we can locally to lower costs like building more housing and supporting food assistance programs. But this affordability crisis is a national one and it requires strong federal partnership to fix it."
Gloria added, "The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act becoming law this summer was an important first step toward bringing down housing costs, but there is much more work to do. America's mayors are ready to keep working in our communities and with Congress and the administration on practical solutions that make it easier for people to afford the communities they call home."
Overall, mayors report seeing the affordability crisis manifest itself most in high rents, followed by increased demand in food banks and growing food insecurity, less household disposable income to support local businesses, increased homelessness and evictions, and increased mental health crises, according to USCM.
Cities note that rising housing costs are undercutting efforts to increase homeownership (82%) and reduce homelessness (71%). Seventy percent of cities say the affordability crisis is limiting local economic growth, and 46% of cities report challenges attracting and retaining workers in their city.
The report highlights some of the local steps being taken to address the affordability crisis. For example, Kansas City, Missouri, passed a $100 million bond to create a housing trust fund to support housing projects. Boise, Idaho, reported establishing utility assistance funds to help offset city-owned utility bills. The city is also pursuing public-private partnerships to build more deeply affordable homes in Boise.
When the mayors were asked to identify the federal resources that their cities need to best address the affordability crisis locally, housing was raised as the most pressing issue with 82.1% of respondents indicating they need additional resources or reduced regulations. Next, 76.8% say restoring and expanding Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits and eliminating food deserts would help their cities to address the affordability crisis, and 70.5% of responding mayors note childcare capacity and childcare subsidies.
The survey was conducted from Aug. 18 through Sept. 4. In total, 113 cities from 39 states and Puerto Rico responded to this survey representing approximately 34.1 million Americans. The full results of the survey can be found here.