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Who's happiest? UNC Charlotte Urban Institute releases new regional survey, data explorer
By Kenneth Lee Jr.
October 7, 2026 at 8:06 PM EDT
The UNC Charlotte Urban Institute on Wednesday released the Carolinas Regional Explorer today that looks at how residents view their lives.
A survey of approximately 4,000 people in the 14-county Charlotte region offers a snapshot of how residents feel about their quality of life.
The institute's survey looked at housing costs, health, income and other factors. Overall, residents rated their life satisfaction at 7.4 out of 10. Housing affordability was identified as the most pressing issue.
Carolinas Regional Explorer Dashboard (1361x635, AR: 2.1433070866141732)
Among Charlotte-area counties, Union County had the highest reported well-being, while Gaston County had the lowest.
Charlotte Urban Institute Executive Director Lori Thomas says while there are reasons for optimism, the results also show areas where communities need to be more intentional about improving.
"We are doing better, on average than the US average, right and that's good news," Thomas said. "But there is another part of that, you know, percentages are people, and we need to pay attention to all of those people."
Researchers also found housing status played a major role in how people viewed their well-being. Charlotte Urban Institute researcher Eric Moore says renters were generally more pessimistic.
"As a region that has a lot more renters coming in, that's a bit alarming, right, to see," he said. "We see sort of unsurprisingly that adults aged 25 to 54, disproportionately more pessimistic than even, you know, that youngest cohort, 18 to 24, or the oldest cohort, right, over 65.
(1742x675, AR: 2.580740740740741)
You can explore the full survey results, maps and interactive graphics here.
A survey of approximately 4,000 people in the 14-county Charlotte region offers a snapshot of how residents feel about their quality of life.
The institute's survey looked at housing costs, health, income and other factors. Overall, residents rated their life satisfaction at 7.4 out of 10. Housing affordability was identified as the most pressing issue.
Carolinas Regional Explorer Dashboard (1361x635, AR: 2.1433070866141732)
Among Charlotte-area counties, Union County had the highest reported well-being, while Gaston County had the lowest.
Charlotte Urban Institute Executive Director Lori Thomas says while there are reasons for optimism, the results also show areas where communities need to be more intentional about improving.
"We are doing better, on average than the US average, right and that's good news," Thomas said. "But there is another part of that, you know, percentages are people, and we need to pay attention to all of those people."
Researchers also found housing status played a major role in how people viewed their well-being. Charlotte Urban Institute researcher Eric Moore says renters were generally more pessimistic.
"As a region that has a lot more renters coming in, that's a bit alarming, right, to see," he said. "We see sort of unsurprisingly that adults aged 25 to 54, disproportionately more pessimistic than even, you know, that youngest cohort, 18 to 24, or the oldest cohort, right, over 65.
(1742x675, AR: 2.580740740740741)
You can explore the full survey results, maps and interactive graphics here.