The Colorado Health Foundation’s annual Pulse survey finds that Coloradans believe they face a number of significant challenges – beyond the rising cost of living – including drug overdoses, immigration and natural disasters.

Still, the growing burden of household spending was the top concern for nearly nine in 10 respondents. Concerns about housing affordability, shared by 89% of respondents, would reach an all-time high in 2024, researchers said. While housing affordability and the cost of living dominated a long list of concerns among Coloradans last year, only 31% of respondents said it was their top concern then.

Now in its fifth year, the survey is conducted annually by the Colorado Health Foundation, a philanthropic organization that advocates for policies that “advance health equity and racial justice,” according to its website.

The survey asked Colorado residents more than three dozen questions on a variety of topics, including health care, education, crime, traffic congestion, climate change and overdevelopment.

In addition to the cost of living, respondents identified six other challenges that they believe are extremely or very serious in Colorado.

These topics include:

• Drug overdoses (65%)
• Crime (59%)
• Mental health (59%)
• Jobs and economy (57%)
• Immigration (53%)
• Forest fires and other natural disasters (53%)

Concerns about immigration have increased sharply over the past year, coinciding with the wave of new immigrants and the city’s hasty response, which threatened to plunge the city into financial crisis.

Over the past 21 months, Denver has welcomed more than 42,000 immigrants, many of them from South and Central America, who crossed the southern border illegally. As of July 1, the city had spent more than $72 million on humanitarian assistance, the majority of which was paid for by Denver taxpayers.

This time last year, 34% of survey respondents said illegal immigration was a problem in Colorado, compared to 53% this year – a 19% increase. This also represents a jump in the rankings from last place in 2023 to eighth place in 2024.

While crime in general was the top concern for nearly six in 10 Coloradans, when researchers looked into the issue more closely, they found that only one in four were concerned about crime in their neighborhood. Latinos and Native Americans were more concerned about crime in their neighborhood compared to other groups, while Republicans were most concerned about crime.

Nearly one in three Colorado residents reported concerns about drug overdoses. In 2022, the most recent data available, there were 1,799 drug overdose deaths in Colorado. Two years earlier, Colorado had 1,477 deaths, a 22% increase, according to state data.

A year before the COVID-19 health emergency, 59% of respondents reported mental health distress — up from 69% last year — with about a quarter saying they had put off seeking treatment in the past year. “Mental health may be less important to Coloradans this year, as many other issues demand their attention,” Dave Metz, Democratic pollster for Pulse and president of FM3 Research, said in a statement. “However, the data shows it continues to be a widespread challenge.”

During a visit to Children’s Hospital Colorado last year, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy warned the public that about 50 percent of adolescents reported feeling lonely and isolated – a problem likely exacerbated by today’s 24-hour use of technology and social media.

Metz noted that this year’s survey “found some consensus on a potential solution: A clear majority want action to be taken to make it easier for health insurance to cover mental health care.” Responses from 2,404 Coloradans were collected between May 20 and June 24. The survey data will be released in three phases, with the first survey released last month on the impact of economic worries on well-being.

Each publication addresses the challenges facing Coloradans and the solutions they believe policymakers should prioritize.

Click here to read the report.