Story Highlights
- 72% say the area where they live is worth investing in
- 40% agree their town or city is prepared to handle future challenges
- 34% agree someone would listen to their ideas for improving their town
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans largely see value in the places where they live. Seventy-two percent agree that their area is worth investing in, 60% agree that they feel hopeful about its future, and 50% agree that their town or city is moving in a positive direction.
Still, fewer are confident in how well their community can meet future challenges and that local leaders would listen to their ideas. Forty percent agree that their town or city is prepared to handle future challenges, while 34% neither agree nor disagree and 26% disagree.
This uncertainty could partly reflect doubts about how receptive their community is to input. Thirty-four percent agree that someone would listen if they had an idea for how to improve their town or city, while 40% neither agree nor disagree and 26% disagree. A somewhat larger share, 42%, agree that people like them have a voice in important local decisions.
Even so, about half of Americans want to contribute. Forty-nine percent report feeling a strong sense of responsibility to help make their town or city better, and 46% agree that they feel motivated to give back to their community.
These findings are from a Walton Family Foundation-Gallup survey of 6,732 U.S. adults, conducted Feb. 26-March 6, 2026, via the Gallup Panel. For this analysis, respondents who “agree” or “strongly agree” with each concept are described as agreeing with it.
Expecting to Be Heard Linked to Motivation to Give Back
Americans who agree that someone would listen to their ideas for improving their town or city are much more likely to also agree that they feel motivated to give back to their community. Among those who believe someone would listen, 71% feel motivated to give back to their town or city, compared with 33% of those who don’t believe anyone would listen.
Views of preparedness and motivation to give back show a similar relationship. Among those who agree that their town or city is prepared to handle future challenges, 60% feel motivated to give back, compared with 36% of those who are neutral on the matter or disagree.
Both attitudes also track with seeing the community as worth investing in. Eighty-five percent of those who agree that someone would listen to their ideas also agree that the area where they live is worth investing in, versus 65% of those who are neutral or disagree. Among those who agree that their community is prepared for future challenges, 88% agree that it is worth investing in, versus 60% of those who are neutral or disagree.
Because the survey measured both attitudes, it can show that expecting to be heard and feeling motivated to give back are related, but not whether one leads to the other. Each attitude was also measured with a single agree/disagree question, and motivation reflects what people say rather than what they do.
The pattern is consistent with Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation’s broader research on opportunity in America, which found that people report more agency — a person's belief and ability to shape their own future and influence the direction of their life — when they experience stronger conditions in the communities around them, and that agency is linked to the conditions people experience where they live.
Younger Adults Just as Motivated, Less Positive About Their Community
Motivation to give back to one's community varies little by age. Forty-five percent of adults aged 18 to 34, 46% of those aged 35 to 54, and 47% of adults aged 55 and older agree that they feel motivated to give back to their town or city.
On nearly every other measure, however, young adults (those aged 18 to 34) are less positive. They are less likely than adults aged 55 and older to agree that their area is worth investing in (64% vs. 76%), to feel hopeful about its future (54% vs. 66%), to agree that people like them have a voice in local decisions (40% vs. 45%), and to agree that their community is prepared for future challenges (38% vs. 45%).
Adults under age 55 are also slightly less likely to expect to be heard. Three in 10 adults aged 18 to 34 and 32% of those aged 35 to 54 agree that someone would listen to their ideas for improving their community, compared with 38% of adults aged 55 and older.
Bottom Line
Most Americans see their town or city as worth investing in, and most feel hopeful about its future. Far fewer agree that their community is prepared to handle future challenges, and only a third expect that someone would listen if they had an idea for improving it.
Whether residents expect their ideas to be heard is linked to their motivation to give back. Those who believe someone would listen to them are more than twice as likely to feel motivated to give back.
The survey can’t show whether expecting to be heard increases motivation, whether motivated residents are more likely to expect their ideas to be heard, or whether something else — such as their views of their community and local leaders — underlies both. However, the findings highlight a connection between residents’ expectations of being heard and their willingness to contribute to their community that deserves further exploration.
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