Housing affordability remained the top issue for voters, who also favor maintaining local services like police, fire, parks, and trash collection over cutting property taxes.
The Orlando Economic Partnership (OEP) recently commissioned a poll of registered voters in Orange, Osceola, and Seminole Counties to gauge public opinion about various community issues. The poll questions aligned with the goals of the Partnership’s Orlando 2045 Vision which aims to build on Orlando’s position as a global creative capital. The recent poll was consistent with a poll OEP conducted last year.
Some highlights of the results include:
- 89% believe Central Florida is a safe place to live and work.
- 80% believe traffic congestion has a negative impact on the economy.
- 67% believe attracting higher-paying jobs should be a high priority.
- 56% believe that investing more in higher education should be a high priority.
- 91% stated that improving the region’s overall quality of life would help bring new investments and jobs.
- 54% oppose eliminating property taxes if it results in cuts to local services like fire rescue, park, and trash collection.
- 74% believe the Florida Legislature should focus its attention on reducing insurance costs instead of cutting property taxes.
The results of the poll were a mix of positive and negative reactions to various issues impacting the Orlando region. On the good news front, a large majority of respondents believe that the Orlando region is a good place to raise a family, to start a new business, and to retire. Yet voters expressed concerns about issues like housing affordability and traffic congestion.
Housing supply and affordability was identified as the top issue, with 34% indicating that it should be the top priority for local elected officials. This far outpaced other issues such as crime, education, transportation, and the environment.
Respondents also expressed frustration with traffic congestion, even more so than the poll OEP conducted in 2025. In this latest poll, 90% of respondents reported that the roads near their home and workplace were congested, with 52% describing them as very congested. Only 43% believe Orlando has an effective transportation system, down from 51% a year ago. Despite the frustration with traffic congestion, support among Orange County voters for a transportation sales tax also dropped during the same time period.
Coinciding with these results, only 42% believe that local leaders have a comprehensive plan to deal with these challenges, and 68% feel that business leaders should have a greater say in regional decisions. Clearly, frustrations with traffic congestion are growing, but voters want to hear a clear plan, and the private sector should be heavily involved in any future sales tax campaign. These results set the stage for the next Mayor of Orange County to lay out a defined plan to improve transportation and bring it to voters in 2028.
One additional finding that is important to note is that the expansion of SunRail to the Orlando International Airport and Orlando’s theme parks is popular with voters, with three quarters of respondents viewing such an expansion favorably. For this reason, the Sunshine Corridor should be a key selling point for any future transportation sales tax campaign.
The poll was conducted February 27th through March 2nd. A random probability sample of registered voters in Orange, Osceola, and Seminole Counties was drawn from the Florida Division of Elections voter file and stratified by geography and gender. The margin of error for the random sample size of N=929 is ±3.2% with 95% confidence.
