Economic anxiety is a point of unity in a divided country, survey finds

Pessimism about the country's future has risen in cities since last year, but rural America is more optimistic about what's ahead for the U.S., according to a new survey from the American Communities Project.

- BY THOMAS BEAUMONT, SIMRAN PARWANI AND AMELIA THOMSON-DEVEAUX

FEWER big-city residents said they are hopeful about the nation's future. Above, in Santa Monica last month.

And despite President Trump's insistence that crime is out of control in big cities, residents of the nation's largest metropolitan centers are less likely to list crime and gun violence among the chief concerns facing their communities than they were a couple of years ago.

Optimism about the future also is down from last year in areas with large Latino communities.

These are some of the snapshots from the new ACP/Ipsos survey, which offers a nuanced look at local concerns by breaking the nation's counties into community types, using data points such as race, income, age and religious affiliation.

The survey evaluated moods and priorities across the 15 community types, such as heavily Latino areas, big cities and different kinds of rural communities.

The common denominator across the communities? A gnawing worry about daily household costs.

"Concerns about inflation are across the board," said Dante Chinni, founder and director of ACP. "One thing that truly unites the country is economic angst."

Optimism is higher in rural areas

Rural residents are feeling more upbeat about the country's trajectory - even though most aren't seeing Trump's promised economic revival.

The $15 price tag on a variety pack of Halloween candy at the Kroger supermarket last month struck Carl Gruber. Disabled and receiving federal food aid, the 42-year-old from Newark, Ohio, had hardly been oblivious to lingering, high supermarket prices.

But Gruber, whose wife also is unable to work, is hopeful about the nation's future, primarily in the belief that prices will moderate as Trump suggests.