More than half of North Texans surveyed this year said they sometimes or often run out of food before they have money to buy more, even as three-quarters of them reported being satisfied with where they live. Those findings come from the 2026 William C. Short Quality of Life Survey, conducted by researchers at the University of Texas at Dallas, who presented results on Oct. 21 after collecting 1,933 usable responses from residents across Denton, Tarrant, Collin and Dallas counties in August.
The annual survey, run since 2024, asked a central question this year: what does it take to make North Texas a place to call home? According to Community Impact, researchers posed questions on economic pressures, affordability, life satisfaction and civic engagement, with artificial intelligence and the American dream singled out as two of the year's pressing topics. Jennifer Holmes, dean of UT Dallas' School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences, said the survey aims to identify issues important to North Texans and bring community members together, adding that perceptions and reality on pressing topics can diverge and that good data can help leaders, policymakers, researchers and nonprofits act wisely.
Rent, Food and a Shrinking Sense of Home
The survey found that a majority of renters are housing-burdened, spending at least 30% of their after-tax income on rent, and more than half reported sometimes or often running out of food without money to buy more. Those findings track with separate rental data: Dallas has roughly 304,000 renter households, 59% of them low-income and half cost burdened, according to the Child Poverty Action Lab's 2025 rental housing needs assessment, which also found the city short 46,000 affordable rental units for households earning at or below half the area median income. The same assessment found just 7% of surveyed apartment complexes across Denton, Dallas, Tarrant and Collin counties accept Housing Choice Vouchers.
Respondents identified inflation and prices, along with housing affordability and availability, as among the most important issues facing their communities, per the survey results. Timothy Bray, project director for the North Texas Quality of Life Initiative and director of UT Dallas' Institute for Urban Policy Research, said employment and growth figures don't fully capture everyday security. That gap between headline economic numbers and lived experience shows up elsewhere too: wage growth across Dallas-Fort Worth has run about 3.1% year over year, lagging cumulative increases in housing, transportation, insurance and utility costs, according to a University of Texas at Arlington housing market analysis, even as regional home values fell around 5% in 2025.
Anxiety Over AI, but Not Across the Board
Fifty-seven percent of respondents said they felt uneasy or afraid about increasing AI use, while 32% considered themselves hopeful or enthusiastic, the survey found. Millennials emerged as the least enthusiastic generation about AI among those surveyed. Bray said North Texans tend to oppose AI in areas centered on human interaction while favoring it in cutting-edge applications — respondents wanted more AI in weather forecasting, scientific discovery, and healthcare and clinical settings, but less AI in counseling, relationship advice, mental healthcare and spiritual guidance.
A majority of North Texans surveyed believed AI will worsen people's ability to relate well to others and to think independently and creatively, the findings show. Bray said fear of the future, of AI and of change more broadly matters in understanding how people interact with one another, and that survey responses differ by county, race and generation.
A Fading Belief in the American Dream
About half of respondents said the American dream can still happen and that their own opportunities are better than their parents' were, but 50% said they believe future generations will have worse opportunities than they did. Bray has also tracked a significant decline in respondents' expectations of future home values over the survey's three years. He described North Texans overall as less connected and less happy, based on their views of opportunity, belonging and the future.
The survey also found a growing share of respondents who said they feel not at all committed to their neighborhood. Bray said people are becoming more disconnected and that meaningful interaction now requires intentional spaces to make it happen.
Civic Duty Without Civic Confidence
Only 17% of respondents said they felt they had high influence on local government, even though close to three-quarters agreed that voting is a civic duty. Bray said people believe they have civic roles and responsibilities but doubt their actions make a real difference, a gap he said civic organizations, local boards and commissions, and nonprofits are already feeling the impact of through a less engaged populace.
Traffic remains a persistent regional irritant layered on top of these affordability and connection concerns. Forty percent of North Texas respondents named traffic as one of their community's three worst features this year, according to a separate report from Yahoo News, with traffic congestion cited as the single most important community issue by 11.8% of respondents in 2026, up from 10.8% in each of the prior two years. That same report found roughly 35% of Gen Z and millennial respondents flagged traffic as a top-three problem, compared with 48.6% of baby boomers.
Where the Data Goes From Here
The North Texas Quality of Life Initiative, of which the William C. Short survey is the centerpiece, includes a public dashboard, annual report, downloadable data and shorter pulse surveys, according to the North Texas Quality of Life Initiative. The UT Dallas Institute for Urban Policy Research compiles survey results into a web-based dashboard meant for quick public visualization. Bray said he wants the survey to become an enduring resource that helps governments, businesses and other stakeholders make informed decisions, with the broader initiative aiming to bring people together in response to increasing disconnection.
The 2026 project team is already planning a 2027 State of North Texas Forum intended to convene regional leaders and develop policy solutions based on the findings. Bray said the project is meant to use data to address problems and support better-informed decisions going forward.
