While political challenges and the high costs of living, housing and healthcare emerged as the primary concerns for residents statewide in the 2025 Colorado Health Foundation (CHF) Pulse Poll, a closer look at specific demographic responses reveals many Coloradans face challenges that far exceed the statewide average, according to newly released findings from CHF.
A bipartisan team of researchers collected responses from 2,333 Coloradans between April 19 and May 18, 2025 for the sixth annual CHF poll that included oversamples of Black/African-American, American Indian/Alaska Native and Asian-American Coloradans, as well as residents of Morgan County, CO.
Phase I results, released in July, highlighted Coloradans’ deep appreciation for the state’s natural beauty, outdoor activities, and sense of community. However, for the first time in the survey’s history, respondents’ top concern wasn’t economic. Rather, 32% pointed to government and politics as the leading challenge facing the state, with concerns about cost of living and housing not far behind. In a follow-up question posing key issues, respondents identified the rising cost of living, housing and healthcare as the top three issues facing the state. Worry about cost for all three key topics dramatically increased during the pandemic and has remained consistently high over the past two years.
In addition, despite the dramatic rise in concern about government and politics, most respondents reported feeling a lack of agency to improve their communities through civic activities, such as publicly expressing support for social causes or candidates, speaking at public meetings of local government or communicating directly with policymakers. A notable exception was volunteering with organizations working on causes they care about, which more respondents viewed as an effective way to engage.
Deep dive reveals a cross-section of Coloradans dealing with a magnified level of concerns and economic pain
While all of the major categories remain troublesome topics, a closer look into demographic groups, as defined by location, age, race, ethnicity, income, political affiliation and experiences with mental health strain, reveals even more acute pains across a diverse range of groups and issues.
Younger people (age 18-29), unemployed residents or people living on lower incomes, renters, people without health insurance, American Indian/Alaska Native, LGBTQ+ individuals, residents of Pueblo County are experiencing disproportionate financial impacts, as well as mental health challenges. People in each of these groups reported facing at least three of six financial challenges in the past 12 months, ranging from postponing medical, dental or mental health care, work hours or wages were reduced, were forced to skip meals due to finances, or was laid off. People in most other subgroups reported experiencing two or fewer.
“Any one of these issues is challenging enough on its own, but when you combine these factors — particularly within some of our state’s most burdened communities — the needs and opportunities for support become even more urgent,” said CHF Portfolio Director Maribel Cifuentes. “The intersection of these challenges is often where CHF and our community partners can make the greatest impact — by advancing access, quality and affordability in housing, healthcare and economic opportunity, as well as centering the voices of those most deeply affected, we can provide needed supports for Coloradans most at risk.”
Making Sacrifices Due to Rising Costs
For the first time since the pandemic, Pulse Poll results reflected a modest decline in the number of respondents reporting that they’ve had to make significant sacrifices to pay the bills, identify as worse off financially, or say that they are really struggling financially. At the same time, there was a slight decrease in the number of people who say they are living comfortably with increasing savings or are better off financially than they were a year ago.
Just over half of the respondents reported experiencing financial challenges in the past year, and more than one in five Coloradans reported experiencing three or more of the six challenges presented to them in the poll.
Among those challenges, food insecurity remains a significant issue for many Coloradans, with rates notably higher among several demographic groups—including Black, Latino, and American Indian and Alaska Native residents.
Roughly one in ten Coloradans report skipping meals due to affordability challenges—a figure that varies significantly by income level and across certain demographic groups.
Where you live matters
While the top issues remained relatively consistent across the state, there were some notable regional variations in the issues reported as top concerns or challenges facing the state.
Interestingly, residents of urban communities expressed greater concern about wildfires, while suburban and rural respondents were more focused on crime. Concerns about crime in general (55%) was more than double the 24% who reported concerns about crime in their own neighborhoods.
Other key topics with significant differences between urban, suburban and rural residents included climate change, illegal immigration and mistreatment of immigrants, racial bias and discrimination, and gun violence.
Respondents in Morgan County, CO (a population oversampled in this year’s survey) shared a drastically different list of top issues, led by healthcare costs and followed by drug overdoses, illegal immigration and crime, in general.
In addition, nearly three in four respondents (73%) on the Eastern Plains view the cost of living as an extremely serious or very serious problem, compared to nearly nine of 10 Coloradans (89%).
Partisan concerns vary drastically
When looking at the top issues across partisan lines, the biggest gaps were centered around climate change, immigration, crime and reproductive rights – all with 45% or higher differentials between Democrats and Republicans.
Taxes and where the money goes
When asked about taxes, Coloradans believe that lower- and middle-income individuals, small businesses, and their own households are paying too much, while high-income earners and large corporations are paying too little.
Overall, Coloradans feel that it’s extremely important for their tax dollars to be directed to critical services like public safety (80%), stimulating jobs and the economy (69%), health care (67%), mental health (65%) and housing (63%).
Democrats, Independents, and Republicans have similar support for directing taxes to public safety, while support from Republicans and Independents drops for services such as healthcare, mental health and housing.
Mental health strain triggered by political and financial concerns
Staying at the forefront, 56% of Coloradans reported experiencing mental health strain—such as anxiety, depression, loneliness, or stress—in the past year, a figure that has remained steady since 2022. Of those respondents, 32% identified political issues as the primary contributor to their strain, with financial issues a close second at 29%. Both factors were cited at roughly twice the rate of the next highest contributor, family or relationship issues.
These findings align with the state’s top concerns around government, politics, and rising costs, showing little variation across party affiliations in the reasons cited.
Pulse Poll findings also showed that women were more likely to point to political pressures and family issues while men were more likely to say their mental health strain is due to financial issues. Black Coloradans and seniors cited politics as their top mental health strain contributor while American Indian and Latino residents pointed to financial concerns.
There was also a significant difference between those who are financially comfortable but experiencing mental health strain (41% point to politics, 13% finances) versus those struggling financially (49% say strain is due to finances; 22% politics).
Those experiencing mental health strain report greater concerns than the average respondent across a broad range of issues—including mental health, climate change, and the treatment of immigrants. While the data clearly show a connection between mental health strain and the challenges respondents face, it remains unclear if the challenges contribute to mental health strain or arise as individuals work to address it.
Civic Engagement
Asked about specific activities people could take to improve their community and whether respondents view the activities as effective, a majority deemed most of the options as ineffective with the exception of "volunteering with organizations working on the social causes you care about,” cited by 37% of the respondents. Volunteering was noted as more effective among African-American (56%), American-Indian (47%) and urban (42%) respondents, while suburban residents expressed more value in public expressions of support for causes. Democrats were far more likely to rate the activities as effective than Republicans or Independents.
For those on the Eastern Plains, all of the activities were rated less likely to be effective.
“The Pulse Poll data reflects the wide range of challenges Coloradans face in their pursuit of good health and well-being — as well as how they’re thinking about and approaching solutions to those concerns,” said Scott Downes, portfolio director at The Colorado Health Foundation. “We’re encouraged by the effectiveness of so many community partners across Colorado, who are speaking up and taking action to improve their communities. We’ll continue to learn from the Pulse Poll findings, amplify the voices of Coloradans, and put these insights into action with individuals, organizations, and communities to advance health equity and racial justice.”
Additional insights and interviews are available with research experts, Colorado Health Foundation leaders, local community organizations and impacted Coloradans. Contact our team to learn more.
About the Pulse Poll 2025
The 2025 Pulse Poll was conducted by telephone and online from April 19 – May 18, 2025 among a random representative sample of 2,333 adults age 18 and older living in Colorado including oversamples of Black/African-American, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Asian American Coloradans, as well as residents of Morgan County. The margin of sampling error for the full sample is +/-3.07% at the 95% confidence interval. For results based on subgroups, the margin of sampling error is higher.
About Our Phased Release
This year, we’re releasing the findings from The Colorado Health Foundation Pulse Poll in three phases, and we’re providing a variety of options to engage with the data that interests you most. We will start in July with a focused release on what Coloradans named as the top issues facing the state, followed by a full deep-dive release in August and a Spanish-language release with additional information on Hispanic and Latino respondents in September.