Using a survey of mayors and their own speeches, the National League of Cities’ 2026 annual report, published July 10, details the “historic headwinds” that villages, towns and cities across the U.S. are facing, including infrastructure demands, housing shortages and economic development challenges.

While the report emphasizes city resilience, mayoral priorities and a sample of varied solutions, some of the most interesting sections focus on the difficult issues faced and the changes that have occurred in the 13 years since this mayoral overview has been published on an annual basis.

For economic development the top two challenges cited in the survey were attracting businesses (cited by 60% of respondents) and insufficient federal investment (45%). Comparing this year’s survey answers to the ones provided in 2025 shows a small decline in mayors who rated their “economic development situation” as acceptable or better, with the percentage dropping from 85% in 2025 to 82% in 2026. The survey also showed an increase of 6 percentage points in mayoral concerns for unemployment/underemployment and an increase of 3 percentage points concerning poverty.

The report also cites funding for infrastructure development as facing difficulties.  Of the top five infrastructure priorities, three are focused on transportation: “parking lots, bridges and public transit systems.”

The survey also showed a strong focus on housing challenges with 75% citing its high cost and 71% citing the challenge of “lack of housing supply”.

Input into the report’s conclusions come from mayors’ “State of the City Addresses” and a survey of mayors. The information from each of these sources often conveys different messages with speeches emphasizing leadership priorities and surveys more inclined to delineate problems. The size of the nation’s municipalities also influences the conclusions that are drawn with only two percent of speeches coming from towns and cities with less than 10,000 in population and half of the survey responses coming from these small entities.

In mayoral speeches, 31% of content was devoted to economic development and 27% to infrastructure. In comparison, 15% focused on public safety; 15% on health and human services, with 11% on housing and 9% on budget management.

The survey showed housing, budget and management, and public health as respondents’ “most important areas for 2026.” Concerns cited in the survey in addition to high housing costs and declines in federal funding, were continued issues with mental health and substance abuse, as well as cybersecurity and emergency preparedness.

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