What have we learned from two years of data on local information needs?
Today, we’re publishing the results of a new national survey of information needs in the United States. This is the second national survey of this type we’ve released and fourth overall (Chicago, New York City, and National Wave 1 were released in 2024 to 2025).
The survey, like those before it, is full of important insights into how Americans get local information. Here are three things we’ve learned, from a data perspective:
1. Americans report large unmet needs for local information. Across local civic topics from politics to transportation, there was a 21 to 46% gap between the percent who report a topic as important and the percent satisfied with what’s available.
2. The “Proximity Paradox”: Americans find it easier to stay informed about national and international issues than what is happening in their own neighborhood, town, or city. 44% report finding it difficult to get information about their neighborhood compared to 26% for national information and 30% for international.
3. Information needs transcend politics, demographics, and geography. Trump and Harris 2024 voters alike report significant local information needs.
The findings above, from our most recent national survey (National Wave 2, n=1,765 registered voters, Dec 15-21, 2025) line up with previous CINC surveys released in 2024 and 2025 – National Wave 1 (n=2,110 adults), Chicago (n=1,698 adults), and New York City (n=1,428 adults), which similarly found significant unmet information needs in those populations.
There’s a lot more in the data that we have not been able to fully analyze yet. We’ll use this space to publish additional analyses – from our data as well as other data in the field – over time.
We also would love for you to share your feedback. Are any of these findings surprising? Are there specific follow-up questions you would like answered? Our data are all publicly available at infocensus.org, so we also encourage you to play with the data yourself, and share any insights you find!
Let us know in the comments or email us directly at contact@infocensus.org.