New Baltimore Area Survey reveals shifting local priorities, economic strains

The 2025 Baltimore Area Survey was published December 19, 2025 and offers a fresh baseline for measuring how Baltimore City and Baltimore County residents experience economic and social life. Now in its third year, the survey begins to trace year over year shifts in perceptions of local government performance, safety, housing, and schools while reporting demographic breakdowns to show which communities feel the greatest strains.

Survey designers framed their work around four central themes. The report presents results on neighborhoods and schools, economic opportunity and security, regional governance and public policy, and civic life and community. It also focused on practical measures of daily hardship, explicitly tracking food insecurity and transportation insecurity to capture how basic needs are changing for households across the region.

The timing of the 2025 survey mattered. The past year included substantial federal government changes, which are economically significant because federal employment is a major source of jobs locally. The report pairs that context with the regional effort to rebuild the Key Bridge, a major infrastructure project that affects commuting patterns, freight movement, and neighborhood connectivity. Together these developments help explain shifts in residents perceptions of access to work and services.

For Baltimore City residents the findings have immediate implications. Rising transportation insecurity can translate into longer commutes, higher costs for workers, and reduced foot traffic for small businesses. Increased food insecurity signals pressure on household budgets and heightened demand for food assistance programs operated by community organizations and city agencies. Perceptions of local government performance and public safety influence resident confidence and could shape turnout and engagement in next years elections and public meetings.

The survey is explicitly designed to inform policymakers, community organizations, and residents about regional priorities and lived experiences. By providing demographic breakdowns and comparisons to prior years the report aims to identify which neighborhoods need targeted interventions and which policies might improve access to employment, transit, and housing. The full report and associated materials are available on the 21st Century Cities Initiative website for officials and residents who want to dig deeper into the data and trends that will shape Baltimores planning in 2026.