Prince George's Residents Report the Region's Harshest Economic Anxiety - and the Strongest Belief That Change Is Possible
A new regional survey finds Prince George's County residents the most likely in the capital region to say they are struggling - and, at the same time, the least likely to say they have no influence over their local government.
Prince George's County voters are weighing their options ahead of Election Day with some of the harshest feelings of economic anxiety in the capital region, according to the VoicesDMV report released last month by the Greater Washington Community Foundation and Gallup and reported by The Banner. Just 47 percent of Prince George's residents in the survey said they felt they were thriving - the lowest share among the local jurisdictions surveyed, which included Montgomery, Arlington, Fairfax and Loudoun counties - while 54 percent said they were struggling or suffering, the highest total in the region. The survey covered 2,801 people across the region, including 435 in Prince George's County.
The strain is concrete. Forty-five percent of the county's respondents said they feared they would not be able to pay their rent or mortgage - the highest mark in the region, and the only jurisdiction where that anxiety has not eased since the survey was last conducted in 2023. Twenty-eight percent reported being unable to afford food this year, 11 points higher than the regional average, and first-time users of food banks or pantries jumped to 23 percent, also the region's highest. A separate September report from the Capital Area Food Bank put the county's food insecurity rate at 56 percent. Foundation chief executive Tonia Wellons said federal policies and related job cuts and losses were the largest strain on well-being, and that the region, usually cushioned by the federal sector, has not been protected from this economic shock.
Yet the same residents hold the region's strongest belief that they can affect change. Only 28 percent of Prince George's respondents said they have no influence over local government decision-making - the lowest rate in the region. Wellons attributed the feeling in part to the county's continued relative affordability and to residents' proximity to the seat of power. The goals respondents named for local leaders include more investment in youth programs, healthcare and job training. The survey arrives as the county's grant-funding process faces increased scrutiny, and Wellons acknowledged that confidence in county leadership has dipped in the month since the survey was released - leaving it to local leaders, she said, to rebuild that confidence.
