Five insights from the annual survey of Coloradans

Colorado residents believe the state has several “very serious” problems and report struggling with mental health issues, but say they generally feel a sense of belonging in their community.

The Colorado Health Foundation on Tuesday released data from the second round of its 2024 Pulse survey. The annual survey asks a representative sample of adults what they believe are the state's biggest challenges and how they feel about their own lives.

The first data released in July showed that concerns about the cost of living, particularly the cost of housing, were widespread across all demographics and that a majority of people feared their children would not be able to afford to live in Colorado.

Here are some of the key findings from the latest data release:

1. Colorado residents worry about homelessness, overdoses and crime…

While respondents most frequently rated housing costs and general living expenses as “extremely serious” or “very serious” problems, they often expressed the same concern about issues that do not affect their wallet.

Homelessness was the biggest problem that did not directly impact respondents' budgets, with 79% of respondents describing it as an extremely or very serious problem. Other major problems not related to personal finances included:

• Drug overdoses, which 65% described as an extremely or very serious problem
• Crime in general, 59%
• Mental health, 59%
• Illegal immigration, 53%
• Forest fires and natural disasters, 53%

2. … but feel safe in their own neighborhood

While more than half of respondents said that crime in general was an extremely or very serious problem, only about a quarter believed that crime in their own neighborhood was reaching such worrying levels.

Republicans had the greatest differences in their answers on crime: 80 percent thought crime was a general problem, but 32 percent said it was a problem in their neighborhood. About 46 percent of Democrats thought it was a general problem, and 22 percent said it was a problem in their area.

People's general perceptions of crime are influenced by news coverage, political stratification and social media, while their feelings about their own neighborhoods generally are not, says Dave Metz, president of the Democratic-leaning FM3 Research.

3. Most say they belong, but some groups feel less included

Three-quarters of respondents said they usually or always feel a sense of belonging in their neighborhood and workplace. However, the proportion of those feeling a sense of belonging dropped to 61% when asked about general public places. People of color, LGBTQ people and people with disabilities reported a lower sense of belonging.

The main reason people felt like they didn't belong – 40% of respondents said they didn't belong – was their political beliefs. Republicans were more likely to say they didn't feel like they belonged because of their political beliefs, while Democrats were more likely to cite mental illness, disabilities or demographic characteristics.

Lori Weigel, a director of the Republican-leaning New Bridge Strategy, said people in focus groups across the state have reported losing friends and contacts because of the policy.

“The Pulse poll data shows the very real impact of partisan polarization on our communities,” she said in a press release.

4. Three out of five report psychological stress

In the spring of this year, 59 percent of respondents said they had suffered from mental health problems in the past year. The survey defined the term broadly and included anxiety, stress, depression and loneliness.

The percentage of those who said they had mental health problems didn't change much from last year, but the share who saw it as a major problem in the state dropped, Metz said. People tend to consider a problem serious if they hear about it frequently, and the discourse has shifted away from mental health in recent months, he said.