Coloradans think the state has several “very serious” problems and report they’re dealing with mental health strain, but say they generally feel like they belong in their communities.

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

The initial data release in July found concerns about the cost of living, and particularly of housing, were widespread across demographics, and that a majority of people worried their children might not be able to afford to live in Colorado.

Here some top takeaways from the latest data release:

1. Coloradans are worried about homelessness, overdoses and crime …

While respondents were most likely to rate the cost of housing and general cost of living as “extremely serious” or “very serious” problems, they also frequently expressed the same level of concern about non-pocketbook issues.

Homelessness was the top concern that didn’t directly affect respondents’ budgets, with 79% of people calling it an extremely or very serious problem. Other top concerns that weren’t related to individual finances were:

Drug overdoses, which 65% called an extremely or very serious problem
Crime in general, 59%
Mental health, 59%
Illegal immigration, 53%
Wildfires and natural disasters, 53%

2. … but feel safe in their own neighborhoods

While more than half of people said general crime was an extremely or very serious problem, only about one-quarter thought it rose to that level of concern in their own neighborhoods.

Republicans had the greatest gap in their responses about crime: 80% thought crime was a problem in general, but 32% said it was a problem in their neighborhoods. About 46% of Democrats thought it was a general problem, and 22% said it was a problem where they lived.

People’s perceptions of crime in general are influenced by news coverage, political framing and social media in a way that their feelings about their own neighborhoods typically aren’t, said Dave Metz, president of Democratic-affiliated FM3 Research.

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

Three-quarters of people surveyed said they usually or always feel they belong in their neighborhoods and workplaces. The share who feel they belong dropped to 61% when the question was about general public places, however, and people of color, LGBTQ people and those with disabilities reported lower rates of belonging.

The top reason people said they felt they didn’t belong – cited by 40% of people who reported not belonging – was their political beliefs. Republicans were more likely to say they didn’t feel they belonged because of their political beliefs, while Democrats were more likely to cite mental health conditions, disabilities, or demographic characteristics.

Lori Weigel, a principal at Republican-affiliated New Bridge Strategy, said people in focus groups around the state reported losing friends and connections because of politics.

“The Pulse poll data demonstrates the very real impact that partisan polarization is having on our communities,” she said in a news release.

4. Three in five report mental health strain

As of this spring, 59% of respondents said they’d experienced mental health strain in the last year. The poll defined it broadly, including anxiety, stress, depression and loneliness.

The percentage who said they had mental health difficulties wasn’t significantly different from last year, though the share who deemed it a major problem in the state went down, Metz said. People tend to consider an issue to be a serious problem if they hear about it frequently, and the discourse has shifted away from mental health in recent months, he said.

5. Concerns about immigration jump

The share of people who considered immigration by undocumented people an extremely or very serious problem rose sharply from 34% in 2023 to 53% this spring. About 13% of people thought it was the most important problem facing the state, up from 1% the previous year.

The jump followed an increase in the number of undocumented people arriving in Denver. Between December 2022 and February 2024, more than 38,000 migrants came to Colorado, though some went on to other states where they had friends or relatives. Events likely played some role in shaping perceptions, though what political candidates choose to emphasize also makes a difference, Metz said.

“Obviously, we’re in a political year,” he said.

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Originally Published: August 13, 2024 at 6:00 a.m.