Survey finds Albuquerque residents value growth, though few say economy is thriving

A majority of Albuquerque residents think economic growth is important, according to a poll by the Economic Forum of Albuquerque, though Burqueños’ responses to the survey indicate more work needs to be done.

Just under a third of Albuquerque residents ranked the strength of the local economy as “excellent” or “good” in the survey. Another third said it was “fair,” while the remainder said they thought the economy’s condition was “poor” or “very poor.”

The poll — commissioned by business group Economic Forum and carried out by Research & Polling Inc., New Mexico’s largest market research firm — surveyed 602 residents and 139 business leaders in the Albuquerque metropolitan area in May and June of this year. Doug Campbell, tech entrepreneur and Albuquerque native, funded the research.

“I was very pleased with the outcome of 96% of the residents wanting economic growth,” said Emily Howard, executive director of Economic Forum of Albuquerque, whose membership is made up of influential city business leaders.

Most Burqueños — 87% of residents and 94% of business leaders — said they felt positively about locally owned businesses, more than the number of people who said they felt positively about large corporations.

The survey showed gaps between respondents’ expectations of local businesses and their perceptions of their actual performance. More than 80% of residents said it is important to them that local businesses operate in ethical and environmentally friendly ways, improve the well-being of the community and provide job skills to residents, while only around half of the respondents said they believed businesses were doing well in these areas.

Howard said she hopes to engage business leaders to help bridge the gap between the public’s expectations and their impressions of how businesses are actually performing.

“I think it’s just going to require more discussion,” she said. “I don’t know if there’s one clear, easy answer, but we really want to try to get the business community together to talk about that and figure out what’s important to change and what’s actually fixable or addressable.”

Nationwide consumer sentiment about the economy is 50.3 this month, one of the lowest numbers ever recorded and just slightly above an all-time low of 50 in June 2022, according to a survey from the University of Michigan.

Negative consumer sentiment affects business development locally, Howard said, as does New Mexico’s stagnant population growth.

Despite negativity about the country’s economy, Albuquerque residents showed optimism about the local financial climate. Around 60% of residents said they felt confident about the growth of Albuquerque’s economy, while 38% said they were not confident.

The number of business leaders who felt positively about Albuquerque’s economic growth was slightly lower at 50%. Around 48% of business leaders said they were not confident.