Respondents to the fall 2025 Community Conditions Survey noted some improvement in conditions for in the Tenth Federal Reserve District, though conditions overall remained poor. Table 1 shows that respondents in several sectors reported slight or moderate positive changes relative to spring 2025. However, the left panel of Chart 1 shows that respondents rated current economic conditions as “poor” or “very poor” in most sectors overall.
Table 1: Respondents reported positive changes in current conditions in several sectors relative to spring 2025
Chart 1: Economic conditions overall remain poor, and respondents largely expect conditions to worsen over the next six months
Looking forward, respondents in most sectors expect conditions to worsen over the next six months. The right panel of Chart 1 shows that pre-K-12 education was the only sector in which a plurality of respondents expected improvements. Table 2 shows that changes in respondents’ expectations reflected growing challenges in the health sector, slowing hiring, continued stress for renters, and a softening of the concerns for human services providers since spring 2025.
Table 2: Relative to spring 2025, respondents reported both positive and negative changes in their six-month-ahead expectations by sector
Sector Highlights
Table 3 breaks down respondents’ selections of the top positive and negative factors affecting their expectations of conditions over the next six months for each program area.
Table 3: Top positive and negative factors affecting expectations over the next year
Notes: Respondents were asked to choose the top three positive and top three negative factors affecting their expectations of conditions over the next six months for each program area. To generate an overall ranking, individual rankings were weighted, with items ranked “1” scored higher than items ranked “2” or “3.” “N/A” indicates not enough responses to reliably report. The third ranked item in each sector is not reported for brevity.
Employment. Respondents commented that while jobs appear plentiful, hiring processes have become more cumbersome, and the jobs available do not pay a living wage. Respondents also noted that childcare and transportation remain significant barriers to low- and moderate-income (LMI) workers getting and keeping work.
Housing. While “no positive factors” dropped out of the top rankings for factors affecting conditions in rental housing, no respondent expected conditions to improve in the next six months. Respondents noted increasing challenges from reductions in housing vouchers, the planned elimination of the Kansas Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program, and new barriers to efforts to address housing challenges in Oklahoma. Respondents also noted the challenge of financing homes for LMI buyers, as many homes within LMI buyers’ price range also have significant repair needs that disqualify them for loan programs. This challenge is on top of increasing insurance and property tax costs, which are negatively affecting affordability.
Small business. Although conditions in the small business sector improved, respondents pointed to increasing challenges in lending to small businesses due to both tighter underwriting standards and an increasing number of business owners with debt-to-income ratios that are too high to qualify for small business lending programs.
Health. Respondents from the health sector noted exceptional concerns around upcoming changes to Medicaid eligibility. Respondents also noted decreasing services for medical transportation, particularly in rural areas.
Education. While the pre-K-12 education sector had the highest share of respondents reporting good conditions, comments reflected a more mixed outlook. Some organizations saw encouraging changes to improve student outcomes, while another noted “third grade reading levels are dismal.”
Human services. Respondents in the human services sector emphasized both government funding cuts and increasing demand for services as influencing their expectations. Respondents also noted growing strain among human services organizations. According to one respondent, “our organization continues to meet the demand for services, but the capacity to do so is quickly diminishing especially as other nonprofits fall on tougher times and more and more people are expected to need assistance.”
About the Survey
The Community Conditions Survey surveys nonprofits, government agencies, and other organizations that assist low- and moderate-income (LMI) populations. Organizations are surveyed twice a year in the spring and fall, but this is the last survey to follow that cadence. Future surveys will occur once a year as a national survey. A Tenth Federal Reserve District report, covering Colorado, Kansas, western Missouri, Nebraska, northern New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Wyoming will be published alongside the national report.
The fall 2025 Community Conditions Survey (CCS) was conducted from October 6 to November 7, 2025. The Kansas City Fed received 99 responses.
All survey respondents are asked to answer questions on conditions for economic mobility for the LMI populations they serve. Each respondent then has the opportunity to answer community conditions questions related to various topic areas depending on their organization’s involvement in those issues. The CPS also includes a section of questions on the health of the entities responding to the survey.
About the Respondents
Share of Responses by State
Steven Howland is a senior researcher in community development at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City or the Federal Reserve System.
Author
