For a growing number of people across the Houston area, financial stress is no longer abstract; it’s showing up in everyday life.
A new report from Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research finds that more residents are feeling squeezed, with financial pressure rising across all income levels.
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According to the 2026 Kinder Houston Area Survey, more than 1 in 5 Houston-area residents say they are worse off financially than they were a year ago.
That number jumps significantly for lower-income households. About one-third of residents earning less than $25,000 a year say they’re worse off compared to last year.
But the strain isn’t limited to those at the bottom of the income scale.
The survey shows an increase across all income groups in the number of people who say they are either “finding it difficult to get by” or “just getting by.”
Even among households making $150,000 or more, the share of residents who say they’re struggling doubled in just one year, from 4% in 2025 to 8% in 2026. as measured by multiple indicators, including residents’ ratings of
Overall, slightly more than half of residents say their financial situation has stayed about the same over the past year, while about 1 in 4 say they are better off.
Still, the data points to a clear shift: more Houstonians are feeling the strain, especially when it comes to keeping up with day-to-day expenses.
Lower- and middle-income households are seeing some of the biggest impacts. The report notes that financial pressures have increased most noticeably among these groups, as measured by multiple indicators, including residents’ ratings of their financial well-being and their ability to cover unexpected expenses.
The findings come as the economy is now the most commonly identified “biggest problem” facing the Houston area, according to the survey.
About one-quarter of residents across Harris, Fort Bend, and Montgomery counties named the economy as the top issue, nearly doubling in some areas compared to the year before.
At the same time, confidence in job opportunities has dropped sharply, marking one of the largest one-year declines in decades.
The percentage of Houston-area residents who rated job opportunities as good or excellent, dropped 29 points this year in Harris County. That is the second largest drop in the county ever reported, behind only the oil crisis from 1982 to 1983.
The Kinder Institute survey, one of the longest-running studies of any major metro area in the country, surveyed nearly 9,000 residents across the region earlier this year.
Researchers say the takeaway is clear: financial strain is no longer isolated to one group.
From households struggling to cover basic expenses to higher earners beginning to feel pressure, the sense of economic stability across the Houston area is shifting.