New Poll Reveals Affordable Housing and Healthcare, Higher Wages are Most Urgent Issues for Coloradans in 2024

For Immediate Release:

Friday, January 26, 2024

Contact: Maggie@stateinnovation.org, 262-488-5944

Across party lines and across the state, Coloradans want state leaders to focus on these issues as well as education and gun violence this year

Denver, CO – A poll conducted by Aspect Strategic on behalf of the State Innovation Exchange (SiX) examined opinions on a number of issues that Coloradans want legislators and the Governor to prioritize. These findings unequivocally show that voters are experiencing severe pain points on the lack of affordable housing, jobs not paying enough for a family to afford to live in Colorado, affordability of healthcare and prescription drugs, schools being underfunded and teachers being underpaid, and the amount of gun violence and shootings in Colorado.

When asked directly about what issues are most urgent, Coloradans replied:

• An overwhelming 88% of voters describe themselves as worried about the affordability of housing, with 60% saying they are very worried
• A stunning 84% say they are worried about jobs not paying enough for a family to afford to live in Colorado, with an additional 52% stating they are very worried
• 84% say they are worried about the affordability of healthcare and prescription drugs, with 46% saying they are very worried  
• 75% are worried about schools being underfunded and teachers being underpaid with 42% saying they are very worried
• 75% say they are worried about the amount of gun violence and shootings in Colorado, with 39% are very worried 

“Coloradans have loudly and consistently called out the urgency for affordable housing and low worker pay as the most urgent problems for state leaders to address,” said Maggie Gómez, SiX Colorado State Director. “Families in Colorado are still struggling to afford the basics, and feel as though the economic gains at the top are not reaching their pocketbooks. Trickle-down economics has never benefited hard-working families, especially those who are renting and getting priced out of the neighborhoods where they live and work. They are pleading for solutions and relief, and are looking to elected officials to deliver this year.”

Links to these results can be found here and here. Aspect Strategic conducted an online survey of 500 registered voters in Colorado. Interviews were conducted January 2-7, 2024. The sample includes a combination of respondents sourced via SMS-to-web and web panel. The margin of error for a survey of 500 interviews is ±4.4% at the 95% confidence level. The margin of error is higher for subsamples.

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State Innovation Exchange (SiX) empowers, emboldens and equips state legislators to build and wield progressive governing power by/with/for the people they represent. SiX does this by providing legislators with the tools needed to shape impactful public policy and building their capacity to lead with their constituents. SiX fosters long-term collaboration between legislators – across chambers, across regions, and across state lines – and with grassroots movements.