Most Chicagoans are Financially Stable, but Many Still Rely on Federal Safety Net Programs
ChicagoSpeaks is the only probability-based panel built exclusively for Chicago, giving decision-makers reliable evidence on residents’ opinions and priorities.
Q3 2026
A new ChicagoSpeaks survey finds that Chicagoans’ financial footing this fall is steady for most, but not especially comfortable.
Nearly 30 percent of Chicagoans say they cannot pay some bills or can only make partial payments on some of them and more than half of Chicagoans are either just getting by (43%) or finding it hard to get by (13%). Thirty-nine percent say they are living comfortably, and only 5 percent consider themselves to be thriving financially.
Against this backdrop, worries about job loss have eased over the past year. Among employed residents, 19 percent think it is very (4%) or fairly likely (15%) they will lose their job or be laid off in the next 12 months. Concern has held steady in recent months but is down 9 percentage points from September 2025, when 28 percent of workers thought they were very (8%) or fairly likely (19%) to lose their job.
For many residents, federal safety net programs reach a sizeable share of the city, with about 3 in 10 Chicagoans receiving health coverage through Medicaid in the past year, and about a quarter receiving SNAP benefits.
Most think the federal government is spending too little on these programs. Sixty percent say the U.S. government spends too little on Medicaid, compared with 16 percent who say it spends about the right amount and 7 percent who say too much. Views on food and nutrition assistance are similar.
“Overall, most residents think the federal government isn’t spending enough on Medicaid and SNAP. Large majorities of Democrats and over half of Independents think spending on these programs is insufficient. However, a majority of Chicago Republicans think the government is spending the right amount or too much on these programs.”
When it comes to recent federal policy changes, just over half of Chicago residents say they know a lot or some about the 2025 budget reconciliation law, commonly known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which made changes to federal tax policy and to spending on programs such as Medicaid and SNAP. Forty-six percent say they know not much or nothing at all.
Among those who know at least a little about the law, a majority think it will hurt people who receive government benefits: 79 percent say it will hurt Medicaid recipients and 80 percent say it will hurt SNAP recipients. About 1 in 10 think it will help recipients of either program.
Methodology
The Chicago poll was conducted September 13-23, 2026, using ChicagoSpeaks®, NORC at the University of Chicago’s probability-based panel of Chicago residents. Online interviews were completed with 1,108 adults. The overall margin of sampling error is +/- 4.1 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level, including the design effect.
NORC conducted the survey using two probability-based sample sources: (1) AmeriSpeak® panelists residing in Chicago and (2) ChicagoSpeaks panelists. Final survey estimates were calibrated to account for the two sample sources. This research supports a scientifically rigorous, community-driven resource that informs policymakers and the public about the experiences and opinions of Chicago residents.
Interviews were conducted online in English and Spanish with Chicago residents ages 18 and older. AmeriSpeak panelists were invited through the password-protected AmeriSpeak Mobile App and received email and SMS reminders, while ChicagoSpeaks panelists received email and SMS invitations. Respondents received a small monetary incentive for completing the survey.
Quality assurance checks were conducted to ensure data quality. In total, 29 interviews were removed for nonresponse to at least 50 percent of the questions asked of them or for completing the survey in less than one-third the median interview time for the full sample. These interviews were excluded from the data file prior to weighting.
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About ChicagoSpeaks
Funded and operated by NORC at the University of Chicago, ChicagoSpeaks® is a probability-based panel designed to be representative of the Chicago household population.
For more information, email ChicagoSpeaks-BD@norc.org.
About NORC at the University of Chicago
NORC at the University of Chicago conducts research and analysis that decision-makers trust. As a nonpartisan research organization and a pioneer in measuring and understanding the world, we have studied almost every aspect of the human experience and every major news event for more than eight decades. Today, we partner with government, corporate, and nonprofit clients around the world to provide the objectivity and expertise necessary to inform the critical decisions facing society.
Contact: For more information, please email press@norc.org or call (877) 832-0392.
