As part of a larger effort to track public opinion in the middle of the country, Heartland Forward commissioned Ipsos North America to field a new survey exploring how Americans view the region’s future and how heartlanders view themselves. The research, conducted June 19-24, 2026, surveyed 1,032 Americans nationally, 1,064 in the 20 heartland states, 400 on the east coast and 240 on the west coast. It builds on Heartland Forward’s earlier analysis of Ipsos’ America 250 research and marks the start of a long-term effort to track public opinion across the nation’s economic and civic center.

The topline finding is an encouraging point of national agreement: 85% of Americans believe the heartland’s success is critical to the nation’s own, agreeing that a strong and successful United States requires a strong and successful heartland. That belief runs deep in the heartland itself, where 89% agree—a figure matched by 89% on the west coast and 81% on the east coast. Support for a thriving heartland, in other words, is close to a national consensus, not a regional talking point.

That national vote of confidence is backed up by how heartlanders feel about their own communities. Eighty-six percent call their region a good place to live and work, a view shared by 76% on the east coast and 70% on the west coast, highlighting an optimistic national attitude about the quality of life the heartland offers. Thirty-seven percent strongly agree, meaning more than a third of heartlanders count themselves passionate advocates for the region. That pride carries through to how people see their community’s trajectory, as 55% say their community is heading in the right direction, and 72% expect it to be the same or better in five years. When asked whether they’ll be better or worse off in the future, heartland respondents lean more optimistic than pessimistic overall. The heartland’s net optimism score is plus six, ahead of the east coast’s plus five and well above the west coast’s minus one. 

Underneath that optimism is the specific belief that the heartland rewards hard work. Asked which region offers the most opportunity for workers without a four-year degree, 60% of Americans nationally chose the heartland, including majorities on the east coast (54%) and west coast (51%). Sixty-nine percent of heartlanders picked their own region, demonstrating a strong belief that effort and experience are rewarded in the middle of the country.

That confidence extends to how heartlanders see their own prospects. Eighty percent are confident in their ability to recover from financial or personal setbacks. Seventy percent believe people in their community have a fair chance to get ahead if they work hard, and 57% feel optimistic about their future, consistent with the east coast (57%) and west coast (58%). Seventy-seven percent also want their community open to business investment that grows the economy and creates jobs, demonstrating that the heartland is a region that sees itself as open for business and advocates for policies and actions to support that.

None of this optimism means the heartland is immune to the pressures facing the rest of the country. Three worries cut across every region surveyed, including cost of living, access to quality health care and fear that young people will leave home for opportunity elsewhere. Cost of living ranks as the top concern both nationally (50%) and in the heartland (45%), though it registers somewhat lower in the middle of the country than on the east coast (50%) or west coast (54%). Access to quality health care concerns 31% of heartlanders, four points higher than the 27% recorded outside the region.

Taken together, the data describe a region confronting many of the same 21st-century challenges as the coasts, and meeting them with confidence rather than decline or grievance. Americans broadly agree that a thriving heartland is essential to a thriving nation, and the region backs that consensus with pride in place, confidence in its resilience and faith that hard work still pays off. As Heartland Forward continues to track public opinion over time, these benchmarks will offer a clearer picture of how the nation’s economic and civic center evolves in the years ahead.

By Robert Moran, Heartland Forward Fellow