Hampton Roads residents had mixed perceptions of the economy but showed some optimism about their own financial situation. Less than half (42.3%) of those surveyed rated the economic conditions in Hampton Roads as excellent (5.7%) or good (36.6%). A similar percentage (43.2%) rated economic conditions as fair and 12.6% rated them as poor. These ratings are very similar to last year when 42.4% rated the local economy as excellent or good.
Respondents showed some optimism for the future, with 36.8% indicating that they think they and their family will be better off financially a year from now. Almost half (49.4%) think they will be the same and 10.1% think they will be worse off. A higher percentage of respondents last year felt that they would be the better off (42.9%) and a slightly higher percentage thought they would be worse off (12%).
The outlook for home purchasing, however, may be less optimistic, with 64.2% of respondents saying that now is a bad time to buy a house and only 12.1% responding that it is a good time to buy. Only 17.8% think that it is neither a good nor bad time. This is a major decline from 2021 when 27.8% thought it was a good time to buy a house and only 41.3% thought it was a bad time to buy a house. These shifting sentiments perhaps reflect the impacts of rising interest rates and higher home prices.[1]
As can be seen from the graph below, more than half of those responding to this year’s survey were employed full-time (57.5%) while another 10% were employed part-time – these are slightly higher than last year. About 5% were not employed but looking for work (5.3%) while 5.3% were not employed and not looking for work. About one in five respondents (21.2%) were retired and of those who were retired, 15.8% are retired from the U.S. military.
More than half of respondents who are working either full or part-time reported they are working only outside of the home and not teleworking or telecommuting (55.7%). Another 10.6% said they are working only from home (teleworking or telecommuting). The remaining respondents reported either working mostly outside of the home (17.9%), splitting time equally between working from home and outside the home (7.8%), or working mostly from home (6.5%). Only 1% had some other arrangement. This continues the declines in work from home seen in 2021 and 2022. In 2020, nearly half of respondents were working mostly or only from home.
Respondents were asked to rate their level of work burnout on a scale of 0 to 10, with “0” meaning “not feeling burned out at all and “10” meaning “feeling completely burned out.” The average rate given for work burnout was 5.6 which is slightly higher than last year (4.8). The most common ratings of work burnout reported were 0 (14.6%), 7 (14.6%), and 8 (10.1%). Looking at burnout over time, ratings generally have followed a similar trend from 2020 to 2023. Those rating burnout as a 10 has decreased in the past two years compared to during the pandemic (8-9% most recently compared to 10.1% in 2020). Those indicating zero burnout has also increased since 2020 (14.6% this year compared to 13% in 2020).
This year’s survey also included questions about the affordability of various essentials in Hampton Roads and related personal financial issues. Respondents were asked if they strongly agree, agree, disagree or strongly disagree with the following statements:
- Affordable childcare care is a problem in the Hampton Roads area
- There is not enough affordable housing in the Hampton Roads area
- I have access to affordable healthcare
- In the last 12 months, I have been concerned that I would not be able to pay my rent or mortgage
More than 70% of respondents strongly agreed or agreed that affordable childcare is a problem in Hampton Roads (71%) and that there is not enough affordable housing in Hampton Roads (77.8%). While 80.3% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that they have access to affordable healthcare and only 22.7% agreed that they had been concerned they would not be able to pay their rent/mortgage in the past 12 months, the results indicate that at least one in five respondents has financial difficulties related to healthcare and/or housing.
