Most Inland Empire residents say they're struggling — even as the economy grows

Citrus Belt Review: Most Inland Empire residents say they are getting by, not getting ahead. Two surveys of more than 3,300 residents by UC Riverside's Center for Community Solutions found 41% thriving — the top well-being tier — compared with 53% across the country. Another 53% said they were struggling, and 6% said they were suffering, with little hope for the future. A companion survey of 1,000 women across both counties ran harder: 58% struggling, and a sharp county split — more than a third of Riverside County women expected their lives to be worse in five years, against just 9% in San Bernardino County. Cost was the wall on healthcare, named by nearly 40% of uninsured women as the main barrier to coverage.

The numbers read strangely against a growing economy, and the gap is the story. The Lowe Institute's 2026 State of the Region describes a national "jobless boom" — strong GDP, almost no hiring. Nominal wages rose about 3.5% over the year, barely ahead of inflation, leaving real buying power up just 0.8 of a percentage point. California carries the highest unemployment rate of any state at 5.5%, a full point above the nation. People can be employed in a growing economy and still feel they're losing ground, because for many they are.

The corridor's signature industry tells the same story in miniature. National truck transportation employment, which the IE rides as the self-described Warehouse Capital of the World, ran up 157,000 jobs through 2022, then gave back 71,000. The Lowe economists call that a return to normalcy rather than a freight recession — but normalcy doesn't feel like recovery to a warehouse workforce that staffed up during the boom and got cut back. (The wage and unemployment figures here are national and statewide; the Lowe report's IE-specific labor breakdown isn't reflected in these numbers.)

What keeps the picture from being bleak is connection. About a third of residents reported a strong sense of belonging, above national rates, and UCR found belonging tracked with well-being as strongly as income did — a boost the researchers compared to earning an extra $190,000 a year. The IE economy isn't lifting people the way the GDP line suggests. Its neighborhoods, for now, are carrying some of that weight instead.