State of Our Region brings the Charlotte region’s story to life

The Charlotte Urban Institute’s inaugural gathering brought together regional data, residents’ perspectives and community voices to examine what it means to call the Charlotte region home.

by Bianca Bagley and Asha Ellison

Home is more than a place on a map. It is the roads we travel, the neighborhoods we know, the farms and forests beyond our cities, and the small towns and growing communities that give this region its character. As the Charlotte region continues to grow and change, an important question remains: Is life actually getting better for the people who call it home?

On Oct. 7, 2026, the Charlotte Urban Institute brought that question to the forefront at its inaugural State of Our Region, held at The Dubois Center at UNC Charlotte Center City. The gathering brought together researchers, community leaders, regional stakeholders and residents to consider what publicly available data and residents’ own experiences reveal about quality of life across the 14-county region.

The annual event introduces a broader approach to understanding regional well-being, pairing traditional measures of economic and community conditions with the perspectives of people who live here. Together, these sources offer a more complete picture of the region’s strengths, challenges and opportunities.

A shared story of home

Lori Thomas, executive director of the Charlotte Urban Institute and Charlotte Regional Data Trust, welcomed attendees and introduced the gathering’s central theme: because our lives are inextricably linked from city to city and across state and county borders, it’s important to understand our region’s data and the voices that contribute to it if we’re to turn our unique and shared challenges into opportunities that benefit and sustain us longterm. 

UNC Charlotte Chancellor Sharon L. Gaber followed with remarks recognizing the importance of research and the university’s role in serving the region. As the Charlotte region experiences continued growth and transformation, understanding how that change affects people’s lives is essential to making informed decisions about the future.

Survey findings were introduced with the short performance “Senses,” inviting the audience to connect to the sights, sounds, scents, textures and flavors that shape how people experience home in the 14 counties. The performance was produced by Hannah Hasan and Shardae Hasan, co-founders of Epoch Tribe, and performed by Frances Dell Bendert, Mia Love Live, Luis Medina and William T. Reilly. The performance offered a bridge between the personal and the analytical, grounding the afternoon’s findings in the everyday experiences of people across the Charlotte region.

What residents told the Institute

Following the performance, Charlotte Urban Institute researchers Eric Moore, Liz Morrell and Kailas Venkitasubramanian presented findings from the Your Voice Carolinas Regional Well-Being Survey.

Conducted from March 11 to April 8, 2026, the survey gathered approximately 3,400 weighted responses from residents across 11 North Carolina counties — Anson, Cabarrus, Catawba, Cleveland, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Rowan, Stanly and Union — and three South Carolina counties: Chester, Lancaster and York.

Residents shared their perspectives on life satisfaction, belonging, trust, financial outlook, housing, food security, safety, environmental concerns and community priorities. The findings revealed both reasons for optimism and significant concerns about the region’s future.

Among the key findings:

• Residents reported relatively high life satisfaction, but experiences varied. The region’s average life satisfaction score was 7.4 out of 10, compared with a U.S. average of 6.8 on a similar scale. At the same time, one in four residents reported that they were managing or struggling, with those challenges more common in Anson, Cleveland and Chester counties.
• Housing affordability emerged as the leading community concern. Sixty percent of respondents identified it as a pressing issue, followed by crime at 46% and transportation at 29%. Although residents rated their own housing relatively highly, at 7.7 out of 10, 76% viewed housing as unaffordable for the broader community.
• Financial uncertainty remained a concern. More than one-third of residents lacked confidence in their ability to cover an unexpected financial emergency. Women were more likely than men to report having no confidence in their ability to do so.
• Expectations for the region’s future were mixed. Only about one-quarter of respondents believed living conditions in the region would improve over the next three to four years.

These findings underscore why traditional indicators cannot fully describe regional well-being. Measures of jobs, income and economic output help explain how an economy is performing, but they do not necessarily capture whether residents feel financially secure, connected to their communities or optimistic about what lies ahead.

By bringing residents’ perspectives into the conversation, the survey offers another way to understand how people experience the region’s growth and where further attention may be needed.

Readers can explore the complete survey findings and research methodology on the State of Our Region website.

A regional conversation about what comes next

The research presentation was followed by a panel discussion moderated by Jeff Michael of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. Panelists Laura Yates Clark of Foundation For The Carolinas, Matt Martin of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, Robert McCutcheon of the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance and Alysia Davis Steadman of the City of Albemarle brought perspectives from philanthropy, economics, business and local government to the discussion.

The conversation extended the afternoon’s central question beyond the findings themselves: How can regional data and residents’ experiences inform the decisions that shape the places where people live and work?

The combination of survey findings and regional perspectives provided a shared starting point for considering the opportunities and challenges facing communities across county and state lines. It also highlighted the importance of looking at the region as an interconnected place, where decisions and conditions in one community can be part of a larger regional story.

Thomas closed the formal program by returning to the purpose of the State of Our Region – an invitation to understand the region through both data and the people behind it.

The afternoon concluded with an onsite reception where attendees could explore live demonstrations of the Carolinas Regional Explorer, the Institute’s interactive platform for examining quality-of-life measures across the 14-county region, reviewing survey findings, and exploring data stories about the region. The platform extends the conversation beyond a single event, giving users another way to explore community conditions, compare places and ask new questions about the region.

Continue exploring our region

The inaugural State of Our Region marks the beginning of an annual effort by the Charlotte Urban Institute and Charlotte Regional Data Trust to build a shared understanding of regional well-being. By bringing together publicly available indicators, residents’ perspectives and stories that reflect the data and human experiences, the initiative aims to help researchers, policymakers, community leaders and residents better understand where the region stands and what its future may hold.

Watch the event recording to revisit the presentations, performance and panel discussion.

View the photo gallery on Flickr to see moments from the inaugural gathering.

As the region continues to change, these resources offer an opportunity to look beyond the numbers, listen to the people who call this place home and consider what it will take for communities across the region to thrive.