Rising costs for basic needs have Baltimore area residents concerned, Johns Hopkins study finds

As the affordability crisis plays out around the country, Johns Hopkins University researchers found out how the issue impacts residents in the Baltimore area.

The Baltimore Area Survey (BAS) researchers asked people how they feel about costs, including utilities, housing, and food. The questions asked about their cost concerns over the past year and for the upcoming year.

More than 1,270 people were surveyed from Baltimore City and Baltimore County. It was conducted from August to October in 2025.

Breaking down the data

The BAS looked into concerns at five different, necessary costs: medical, utilities, food, housing, and transportation.

Overall, around 30 to 40% of those surveyed reported trouble in affording those costs in the last year.

The survey itself asked people how concerned or difficult it is to afford the different cost categories, as well as identifying how food secure they are and how reliable transportation access is.

For future concerns, most were concerned with potential medical expenses, coming in at nearly 70% of respondents.

Around 60% of respondents were concerned with future utility bills, food and housing costs, while around 50% are concerned with future transportation costs.

The results have a margin of error of 3.9%.

Low-income residents are facing a bigger burden across all of the cost categories, according to the data, especially in households with children.

But, the survey found people of all incomes showed some kind of affordability concerns.

Also, the most common pairing of future concerns is medical and utility bills.

Rising costs not losing steam

WJZ talked to several people about the affordability concerns they have.

Most brought up utility bills, particularly their BGE bills.

"That keeps going up and up and up," said Anthony Hall.

Kristen Bowden said her BGE bill has been "through the roof."

"It was a little higher than I expected," Bowden said.

Both Hall and Bowden are anticipating costs to just keep rising, so they're adjusting to keep things in budget.

"When I'm buying my groceries, I'm more mindful of, 'When are we going to eat this?' not 'Oh, that looks yummy, I'll buy that,'" Bowden said. "It's more about these are the meals we're gonna have and these are the snacks we need."

Hall's approach is pretty cut and dry.

"Spend less, save more," he said.