A viewer survey by NBC and Telemundo found that nearly two out of three Bay Area respondents said they were just getting by, struggling, or unable to consistently afford basic needs. The result offers one measure of the region’s financial strain; separate housing and price data provide additional context.
The “Affording America” survey drew nearly 10,000 viewers around the country, according to NBC Bay Area. About 63% of Bay Area respondents told the outlet they were just getting by, struggling, or unable to consistently afford basic needs. More than half of all respondents said they had cut spending in at least three expense categories.
The station’s report also profiled Oakland resident Sheryl Walton, who supports herself, her daughter, and her granddaughter on one paycheck from her airline job. She described her household as struggling.
Where The Cuts Are Coming From
Among respondents who reported cutting expenses, eating out was the most commonly trimmed category, at 75%, followed by travel, at 70%. More than half said they had reduced retirement savings (55%) or grocery spending (53%), according to NBC Bay Area’s report.
NBC and Telemundo Managing Data Editor Lucia Walinchus told the station that groceries, housing, and utilities were prominent pressures in the survey. NerdWallet personal finance expert Kimberly Palmer pointed to housing, transportation, and food as major household costs, estimating that together they account for roughly two-thirds of a typical family’s monthly spending.
One Oakland Household's Math
In figures she shared with NBC Bay Area, Walton estimated that her budget changes saved about $685 a month. One change was switching from grocery delivery to pickup; she said delivery costs 10% to 15% more and that the switch reduced her food bill by 15%.
Walton also told the station that disconnecting her lawn sprinkler lowered her water bill by more than $60 a month. She said she regularly negotiates or renegotiates recurring costs, including cable, wireless, insurance, and streaming bills.
A Regional Squeeze With Deeper Roots
The survey results echo a broader affordability crunch already documented across the region. United Ways of California has reported that 27% of Bay Area households are struggling to meet basic needs, with more than 600,000 households living below what the organization calls the real cost of basic needs. That same study estimated it takes, on average, $136,872 per year for a family of two adults and two children to afford basic needs in the Bay Area — a figure that had climbed by nearly $12,000 since the measure was last calculated in 2023.
National data suggests the pressure isn't unique to the Bay Area. The Urban Institute's affordability tracker found that 49% of people in American families lack the resources to cover essential expenses needed to live securely in their communities. The same tracker found that residential electricity bills outpaced earnings in 31 states between June 2025 and June 2026, with customers paying about $5 more per month on average, while national gas prices have risen 33% since January 2025 even as nominal earnings grew just 6%.
Health coverage costs have climbed too: the Urban Institute found that monthly premiums for the second-lowest-cost Silver plan on the Affordable Care Act Marketplace rose 22% from 2025 to 2026, reaching $611. Separate polling from Pew Research Center found that 60% of U.S. adults say they don't currently have enough income to lead the kind of life they want, while 44% reported trouble paying for at least one basic necessity in the past year.
Local Costs and a National Benchmark
County-level housing figures offer another snapshot of the region: the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2024 five-year estimates, published by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis’ FRED, list 38.32409% of Alameda County households and 35.59980% of San Francisco County households as burdened by housing costs. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward CPI-U rose 3.0% in the 12 months ending in December 2025; food prices rose 4.3%, while energy prices declined 0.2%, according to the BLS.
For a separate national benchmark, the Federal Reserve’s 2024 household survey found that 19% of adults said they were just getting by and 8% said they were finding it difficult to get by. That national measure is distinct from the NBC and Telemundo viewer survey’s Bay Area results, as described in the Federal Reserve report.
Back in Oakland, Walton's approach reflects what the survey data shows playing out in households across the region: small, deliberate trims — a canceled delivery subscription, a disconnected sprinkler, a renegotiated cable bill — adding up in an economy where the basics keep costing more. NBC Bay Area notes that Affording America segments air locally from time to time and also appear on NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas.
