Best questions for citizen survey about cost of living concerns

Here are some of the best questions for a citizen survey about cost of living concerns, plus tips on crafting them for clarity and depth. With Specific, you can instantly build an AI-powered conversational survey tailored for the challenges citizens face today.

What are the best open-ended questions for a citizen survey about cost of living concerns?

Open-ended questions give us detailed stories, not just numbers. They let people express what's really happening, uncovering deeper experiences and emotions—especially useful when cost pressures touch on all aspects of daily life.

When the goal is to understand root causes, personal challenges, or unexpected consequences, open questions draw out the context. For example: recent surveys show that over 50% of Americans feel major stress from rising grocery prices, while almost 90% of Malaysians are worried about everyday costs [1][4]. To capture the nuances behind these feelings, open questions work best.

1. How has the rising cost of living affected your daily life in the past 12 months?

2. What expenses have increased the most for you, and how have you coped?

3. Can you describe any specific challenges you've faced when paying for essentials like housing or groceries?

4. What changes, if any, have you made to your lifestyle because of cost increases?

5. Are there government policies or local initiatives that you feel have helped or hurt your situation?

6. If you could request support or changes, what would help you most right now?

7. How are rising costs impacting your family or the people you care for?

8. Have you delayed or canceled any plans or purchases due to affordability issues?

9. What concerns you most about the future regarding the cost of living?

10. Is there anything else you want to share about your experience with current cost challenges?

What are the best single-select multiple-choice questions for a citizen survey about cost of living concerns?

Single-select multiple-choice questions are perfect for quantifying broad trends and making it easy for people to start the conversation. Sometimes picking from concrete options is less intimidating than typing a story from scratch—this warms up respondents and gives us data we can compare and track over time.

Here are three multiple-choice questions for cost of living:

Question: Which area of your expenses has increased the most in the past year?

• Housing (rent/mortgage)

• Groceries/food

• Utilities (gas, electricity, water)

• Transportation

• Other

Question: How concerned are you about your ability to afford basic needs (food, shelter, bills) in the next 6 months?

• Very concerned

• Somewhat concerned

• Not very concerned

• Not concerned at all

Question: Have you sought assistance or support due to cost of living pressures in the last year?

• Yes

• No

• I'm planning to

When to follow up with "why?" After a single-select answer, a follow-up asking "why do you feel this way?" or "can you share more?" brings richer details. For example, if someone answers "very concerned" about affording needs, a follow-up like "What are your biggest concerns or recent experiences?" draws out real stories.

When and why to add the "Other" choice? Add "Other" when the options might not cover every situation. The follow-up reveals surprises (like medical costs or childcare)—details you’d otherwise miss.

Should you use an NPS-style question in a citizen cost of living survey?

NPS stands for Net Promoter Score—a measure of how likely someone is to recommend or trust a service, government policy, or their current situation to others. It's not just for brands: asking an NPS-style question helps us measure public sentiment about how well institutions are helping with cost of living concerns.

For citizen surveys, an NPS question could be: "On a scale from 0–10, how likely are you to recommend your local community as an affordable place to live?" It quantifies sentiment, making trends over time easy to track. You can generate an NPS cost of living survey for citizens instantly with Specific, and combine it with contextual follow-up questions for powerful insights.

The power of follow-up questions

Follow-up questions turn vague or cryptic answers into gold. When respondents say "things are tough," the AI can dig deeper in real time: "Can you tell me what’s been toughest this month?" This not only clarifies, but helps respondents feel heard. Learn more about automated follow-up questions and how they reveal what matters most.

• Citizen: "Groceries are too expensive."

• AI follow-up: "Which items have become least affordable for you? Can you share a recent example?"

How many followups to ask? Usually, 2–3 are enough. Any more, and people may get fatigued. It’s crucial to set the AI to stop after the essentials are collected (Specific lets you tune this for each survey).

This makes it a conversational survey: Surveys with dynamic follow-ups feel like a real conversation—not a cold form. People are more open, and answers are richer.

AI makes it easy to analyze: Open-text responses pile up fast, but with AI-powered response analysis, it’s simple to extract trends, pain points, regional differences, and even direct quotes for reporting. No manual sifting needed—just ask the AI for a summary or the top themes.

These automated, smart follow-up questions are a game-changer. Try generating your own survey to see the power of real-time probing.

How to write a great GPT prompt for citizen cost of living surveys

Prompts are our blueprint for AI-generated questions. Even simple prompts work, but context makes them better. Try:

Start basic:

Suggest 10 open-ended questions for Citizen survey about Cost Of Living Concerns.

But if you explain your context (your town, recent policy changes, target audience, what you hope to learn), AI will craft more relevant questions. Example:

We are city planning officials surveying residents who rent privately in major cities. Our goal is to understand how rental increases and utility costs impact daily choices and longer-term plans. Suggest 10 open-ended questions to uncover detailed challenges and policy feedback.

Now, ask the AI to organize your questions for deeper structuring:

Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.

Pick the best themes, and go deeper. For example:

Generate 10 questions for the categories "housing affordability" and "impact on family life."

Using Specific's AI survey editor, you can chat to refine, rearrange, and polish surveys with zero friction.

What is a conversational survey?

Conversational surveys turn rigid forms into AI-powered conversations. Instead of filling out static lists, respondents interact with an AI that probes, clarifies, and adapts—just like a researcher would.

Why switch to AI? Traditional survey creation is slow and manual: writing each question, worrying about logic, copy-pasting, managing versions. An AI survey builder lets you generate, edit, and launch a polished, intelligent survey from a single prompt, in minutes.

Why use AI for citizen surveys? AI survey examples adapt to the respondent and situation, uncovering authentic narratives and actionable trends. They boost engagement, cut response friction, and let us dig into the real why—especially vital when tackling sensitive topics like the cost of living crisis, which recent statistics show is top of mind in the U.S., U.K., Australia, and beyond. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]

Specific stands out as the conversational survey platform with best-in-class user experience. The process is smooth—both for survey creators and citizens sharing their stories. For a detailed guide on launching your own AI-powered cost of living survey, check out our how-to article.

See this cost of living concerns survey example now

Explore a real, conversational survey that adapts to each citizen’s experience—unlocking powerful insights in minutes. Create your own and transform the way you listen to your community today.