An Update from the Center for North Carolina Politics & Public Service
North Carolinians are most concerned at this moment with the overall price of food, consumer goods, housing, and the nation’s economy, and identify those same issues as ones they will be most concerned about over the next six months, according to a Catawba-YouGov Survey.
Eight out of ten North Carolina respondents said they were most concerned (either very or somewhat) about food and consumer goods, along with housing, and nearly the same number (78 percent) expressed concern with the nation’s overall economy. Seven out of ten said they were also most concerned with the ability of people who want to work being unable to find jobs as well as the overall price of gasoline and energy.
North Carolinians expressed the same amount of concern (69 percent) for both the state’s overall economy and their own/families’ economic situation, while 63 percent said they were most concerned about their local community’s economy. Less than half of North Carolinians—42 percent—expressed concerns about how the stock market was doing.
“Economic and pocketbook issues are often at the forefront of most Americans’ minds and the top issues North Carolinians identified were items they experience daily,” said Dr. Michael Bitzer, director of the Center for North Carolina Politics & Public Service and professor of politics and history at Catawba College.
The poll, funded by Catawba College’s Center for North Carolina Politics & Public Service and conducted by YouGov from June 10-26, 2025, has a margin of error of +/- 3.56 percent for the 1,000 weighted respondents who are 18 and older and live in North Carolina, with larger margins of error among sub-groups. All results should be interpreted as informative and not determinative.
Within most of the economic topics, partisan differences are readily apparent: self-identified Democrats tend to have the highest level of concerns, while Republicans have the lowest levels of concerns. For example, 84 percent of Democrats are concerned with the ability of people who want to work being unable to find jobs, while only 60 percent of Republicans expressed concern, resulting in a 24-point gap between partisan identification. This same 24-point gap is also evident among respondents’ vote choice for president in 2024.
Over half of Democrats express concern with how the stock market is doing, whereas only one-third of Republicans express that same concern, a gap of 21 points.
“In our highly partisan and divided world, it’s not surprising that partisan identification and which party is in control of the government can result in widely different perceptions and levels of concern,” Bitzer said. “Those who identify as independents tend to reflect the overall attitudes of the state, sandwiched between the two partisan camps.”
When asked about their concerns into the future (six months ahead), the same three topics—food & consumer goods, housing, and the nation’s economy—were identified, but in slightly different order, with the nation’s economy and housing being tied at 76 percent, while food & consumer goods were at 83 percent.
Notable Numbers Regarding Current Economic Concerns:
- Nearly nine out of ten North Carolinians who said they voted for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris were very/somewhat concerned about the nation’s overall economy, compared to nearly seven out of ten Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump voters.
- Independents matched Republican concerns about the state’s economy at 64 percent, while 79 percent of Democrats expressed concerns.
- 64 percent of four-year college graduates said they were concerned about the state’s economy, while over seven out of ten who did not hold a four-year college degree expressed concern.
- A twenty-point gap exists between Democrats (75 percent) and Republicans (55 percent) regarding concerns over their local community’s economy.
- Six out of ten four-year college graduates expressed concern about their personal and family economic situation, whereas over seven out of ten non-four-year college graduates expressed concern.
- Nine out of ten of Democrats, and eight out of ten Republicans, expressed concern about the prices of food and consumer goods, with independents closer to Democrats than Republicans (87 percent) in their concerns.
- Older voters (those born before 1964) had slightly higher concerns than the state over the price of housing.
- Three-quarters of younger voters (born after 1981) expressed the most concern about the ability of people who want to work being unable to find jobs, compared to 68 percent of the oldest voters.
Notable Numbers Regarding Economic Concerns in the Next Six Months:
- Nine out of ten Democrats express concern about the nation’s economy going forward, compared to almost 80 percent of independents and 64 percent of Republicans.
- A sixteen-point gap exists between the concerns of those who identify as liberal in North Carolina (78 percent) versus conservatives (62 percent) regarding the state’s economy in the next six months.
- A eleven-point gap exists between the concerns of Black non-Hispanic respondents (74 percent) versus White non-Hispanic respondents (63 percent) when it comes to their local community’s economy.
- Compared to the state’s overall concern about one’s personal & family economic situation (68 percent), Democrats were nearly ten points higher (77 percent) while Republicans were nearly ten points lower (59 percent) than the state.
- While almost three-quarters (73 percent) of North Carolinians expressed concern over future gas and energy prices, 85 percent of Harris 2024 voters expressed concern, compared to 62 percent of Trump 2024 voters.
- A twenty-point gap exists between the concerns over housing as expressed by Democrats (87 percent) versus Republicans (66 percent), with both independents and North Carolinians overall at three-quarters (77 and 76 percent, respectively).
- An even larger twenty-seven point gap exists between Democrats’ concerns about individuals not being able to find a job (83 percent) compared to Republicans (56 percent).
- Three-quarters of Millennials and Generation Z (those born after 1981) expressed concerns about individuals not being able to find a job, whereas only 64 percent of older voters (Boomers and Silent generations born before 1964) expressed concerns.
- One-quarter of North Carolinians expressed not too much or no concern at all regarding how the stock market was going to do over the next six months. However, Democrats, liberals, Black non-Hispanic, and Harris voters did not share that sentiment, generally having lower “no concerns” levels than other demographic groups.
