Atlanta — Nov 10, 2026
For the second year in a row, metro Atlanta residents name housing affordability as the region’s top concern, and more than half say housing costs are a major barrier to getting ahead, according to the 2026 Metro Atlanta Speaks survey.
The Atlanta Regional Commission released the survey results today at the 2026 State of the Region.
When asked about the biggest problem facing metro Atlanta, 30% of the respondents said housing affordability, followed by traffic (22%), and the economy (16%). It’s the second year in a row that housing affordability topped the list of top concerns.
ARC conducts the Metro Atlanta Speaks survey each year to gather insights into quality-of-life issues such as transportation and the economy. This year, ARC included new questions about economic mobility, a key issue in a region where too many residents still face barriers to getting ahead.
ARC released the survey results today at the 2026 State of the Region. Highlights include:
- Housing costs are a big barrier to upward mobility.
About half (51%) rated housing costs as a major impediment to economic mobility, followed by lack of job opportunities (35%), transportation costs (28%), care for an aging parent (26%), public assistance eligibility (26%), and childcare (22%). - About 40% of respondents have few friends outside their own income range.
Four in 10 respondents have two or fewer friends whose household income is very different from their own. Research shows that people with fewer financial resources are more likely to move up economically when they have more connections with people who have higher incomes. - About one in three respondents say good jobs can be hard to find within a reasonable commute.
When asked how many good jobs that matched their skills and experience could be found within a reasonable commute, about one in three (32%) said “very few” or “none.” That compares to 15% who said “a lot” and 29% who said “som - Residents back ‘missing middle’ housing as affordability strategy
When asked which infill projects they would support in their neighborhood, respondents were most receptive to tiny home developments and backyard apartments or in-law suites (64% each). Duplexes (57%) and small apartment buildings of 5-9 units (51%) also cleared the majority mark.More respondents say they are worse off financially than a year ago.
More than a third (35%) said they were feeling worse off this year, up from 29% in 2025. The share who feel better off held steady (27% compared with 28% in 2025). - Yet residents are less pessimistic about the near future.
When asked about the next three to four years, 27% of respondents said they expect things to get better, up from 16% last year. And 37% said they expect conditions to worsen, down from 46%.
“Metro Atlanta residents are telling us what stands in the way of getting ahead: housing they can afford, jobs they can reach, and connections across income lines. We must act now to improve economic mobility in this region to ensure that everyone has a fair shot at success,” said ARC Board Chair Andre Dickens, who also serves as Mayor of the City of Atlanta.
The survey results will help inform the development of Opportunity Rising, a new regional coalition focused on expanding economic mobility in metro Atlanta. Opportunity Rising brings organizations and leaders together to learn from what’s working, track progress, and identify where greater alignment can help more people and communities move forward.
The effort is being led by the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC), United Way of Greater Atlanta, the City of Atlanta, and the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, with a shared commitment to grow a broad regional coalition.
Survey Resources and Summaries of Results
- Full Report (PDF, 2 MB)
- Survey Questions (PDF, 314 KB)
- Regional Data Crosstabs (XLSX, 150 KB)
- Data Dashboard
About the Survey
The Metro Atlanta Speaks (MAS) survey, which began in 2013, is the largest of its kind in the Atlanta region. The 2026 survey marks the 14th year of MAS implementation (no data were collected in 2022). The survey offers a snapshot of residents’ views on a range of critical issues such as transportation, the economy, housing, neighborhood quality of life, and changes in technology.
The hybrid phone and online survey was administered by Kennesaw State University’s A.L. Burruss Institute of Public Service and Research, asked questions of 4,136 adult residents across 11 counties in the metro Atlanta region this past August.
The survey draws large enough samples from each of those 11 counties and the City of Atlanta to ensure statistically valid comparisons between these major jurisdictions. The survey’s margin of error is ±1.5% for the 11-county region.
For additional information about the 2026 survey, including county-level results, please visit atlantaregional.org/metroatlantaspeaks.
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The Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) is the official planning agency for the 11-county Atlanta Region, including Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, and Rockdale counties as well as the City of Atlanta and 75 other cities. The Atlanta Regional Commission’s mission is to foster thriving communities for all within the Atlanta region through collaborative, data-informed planning and investments.
Contact Name: Paul Donsky
Contact Phone: 470-626-3869
Contact Email: [email protected]
