Maryland voters are increasingly concerned with the cost of housing, a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll finds.
Nearly 1 in 5 registered voters cite affordable housing as the state’s top problem, up from 13 percent in 2019 to 19 percent in March. Roughly 3 in 4 voters say Maryland housing is “extremely expensive” or “very expensive,” including most voters in every region of the state. In Southern Maryland and the Eastern Shore region of the state, affordable housing outpaces crime as voters’ top worry.
The poll finds most voters feel several cost-of-living pressures and report concern over the cost of gasoline, groceries and child care, with the most pronounced concerns about the expenses of food and housing.
Maryland voters also show a decline in optimism in the six years since The Post-UMD poll last asked about their views on the direction of the state. Forty-six percent of voters say they think the state is moving in the right direction, down from 63 percent in 2018. Forty-four percent say the state is on the wrong track, up from 29 percent in 2018.
