Cost of housing, healthcare among Coloradans’ top worries, new survey shows

A large majority of Coloradans reported that the cost of housing, healthcare and everyday expenses are serious challenges, according to a newly released survey from the Colorado Health Foundation.

The organization’s seventh annual Pulse poll measured people’s attitudes on various concerns in the state. Respondents pointed to government, the cost of living and housing affordability as their top concerns, with a 12% bump in people naming the cost of living as a top concern. Eighty-five percent said housing costs and the cost of living were either extremely or very serious, and 82% said the same of healthcare costs.

The poll was conducted in the spring, and researchers contacted 2,240 people. The results have a 3.2% margin of error with 95% confidence.

“Rising costs are still a major concern for Coloradans,” Lucia Del Puppo, senior vice president at FM3 Research and Democratic pollster said in a statement. “After some slight improvements in 2025, those hardships have returned to prior levels, suggesting that recent cost increases have wiped out the improvements people saw when inflation eased.”

Nearly half of those polled said they postponed medical or dental care in the past year, and 29% said they delayed mental health care because of financial anxiety and rising costs. Nearly 75% of people reported cutting back on recreational and entertainment spending to help their budgets.

Of the 65% of people who said the cost of health care for their family increased over the past year, most were from the Denver metro area, but smaller shares were from the Colorado Springs area and the Western Slope. About 6 in 10 people said they were dissatisfied with the out-of-pocket expenses for their health care, like co-pays and deductibles, and nearly half are not happy with wait times to see a provider. The cost of healthcare was a bigger concern in the Eastern Plains.

In the state government category, poll respondents were most satisfied with efforts to make Colorado a safe and welcoming place. About 68% are not happy with the government’s ability to ensure effective use of taxes, with Republicans more likely to be very dissatisfied. There was also major dissatisfaction with how the government is responding to economic concerns.

“Coloradoans are generally dissatisfied with how the government is performing on these goals,” Del Puppo said during a Wednesday briefing. “The one that they were net positive on was making Colorado a safe and welcoming place for everyone who lives here. But again, that was plus four points. It was pretty close.”

One-third of respondents said they worry about affording rent or their mortgage, a figure that has trended up since the first poll in 2020. Over half of renters worry, compared to 23% of homeowners.

Renters are increasingly likely to avoid asking their landlords to fix issues out of fear of rent increases. They also partake in other coping mechanisms to pay housing costs such as 28% working multiple jobs, 21% falling behind on other payments, and 24% taking on credit card debt. Among all Coloradans, 76% blamed high housing costs on stagnant wages and 69% blame private investors buying homes and apartments for profit. There was also a partisan split on where to place blame for high costs: 65% of Republicans said that government regulations make housing more expensive, compared to 30% of Democrats.

Around two-thirds of people said they are worried about being able to afford living in Colorado in the future, however, most people said they are likely to recommend Colorado as a place to live, with 20% saying they are very likely to do so and 14% saying they are not at all likely.

“There’s a little bit of a division there, and people feeling intensely,” Del Puppo said. “But in general, it’s a net positive recommendation and likelihood of recommending Colorado.”