Voters in the Portland area say their economic prospects have collapsed over the past six years, with pessimism rising sharply amid mounting fears about job security and paying the bills.

Nearly two-thirds of voters rate their economic prospects are poor or very poor, according to a new poll DHM Research conducted last month for the Portland Metro Chamber. That’s an astonishing turnaround from just six years ago, when three-quarters of voters said their prospects were good or very good.

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“This is a real worrying chart,” said DHM pollster John Horvick. “This one’s a really striking result and I think something for all of us to be paying attention to and be concerned about.”

Other results in the new poll, released Thursday, help illuminate voters’ fears. Sixty-five percent of voters say they’re extremely concerned about the cost of living, up from 41% just before COVID-19 hit in early 2020.

More striking, perhaps, is a rapid increase in voters’ fears about the job market. Thirty-five percent now say that’s a topic of great concern to them, up from 19% just a year ago.

Those growing worries correspond with a historic wave of layoffs, concentrated in Portland’s suburbs, and a steady rise in Oregon’s jobless rate. At 5.2%, the state now ranks third nationally for unemployment.

The poll found voters in Clackamas and Washington counties are more likely to feel themselves worse off financially than those in Portland. Women, Republicans and non-Hispanic people of color were also more likely to report financial worries.

The share of voters who said their county is on the wrong track rose last year, too, DHM’s poll found 47% said their county is on the wrong track in 2025. That’s up from 38% in 2024 but down from 62% in 2021, as Oregonians coped with fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Voters in Clackamas and Washington counties were responsible for the deteriorating mood. People in the suburbs had been feeling better than their counterparts in Multnomah County in 2024, but a sharp uptick in negative sentiments outside Portland now has people in all three counties feeling comparably gloomy.

(Can’t see the graph? Click here.)

Concerns about “high taxes” also increased sharply. Few voters named that their top issue in 2024 but it was the No. 2 issue in last month’s poll — 14% listed taxes as their biggest concern.

There was some good news. While homelessness remains metro area voters’ top issue, the level of concern dropped sharply last year.

Just 20% of respondents rated homelessness as their No. 1 worry, down from 35% a year ago. Voters — especially those living in Portland — indicated they felt the region has also made progress on reducing crime, too.

Perceptions of downtown Portland are also improving, with an increase in the share of voters who say the city’s core is improving and that they’re more likely to visit. Most voters say they feel safe downtown during the day, though just a third of voters told pollsters they feel safe there at night.

Crime has been in steady decline downtown and in most of Portland over the past two years but the poll indicates lingering unease, especially for people who live outside the city.

Just a quarter of voters living outside Portland feel safe downtown at night, according to the poll. And only 5% of Republicans do.

That could reflect the hyper-partisan climate affecting many parts of society, Horvick said. But pedestrian traffic downtown is still 40% below pre-pandemic levels. Horvick said Portland’s success depends on appealing to people across the political and cultural spectrum.

“We needed to be attractive to everybody, left, right and center,” he said. “And here we see a real challenge.”

This is Oregon Insight, The Oregonian’s weekly look at the numbers behind the state’s economy. View past installments here.