More than 100 million Americans — roughly one in every three — are economically insecure. These are individuals for whom one expensive car repair, one health crisis or one missed paycheck could lead to a spiral of unpaid bills, predatory loans, eviction and even homelessness. Municipalities across the country have moved to address their residents’ financial challenges by supporting financial empowerment initiatives.
In 2024, the NLC conducted a scan of financial empowerment initiatives across the country, including a national survey, city interviews, a roundtable convening of municipal staff and elected leaders and focus groups with experts to learn more about this important work. The scan builds on a similar scan conducted by NLC in 2014 and examines how municipal financial empowerment strategies have changed over the last decade.
Read this report to learn about the findings and themes from the scan as well as promising practices and trends. The report seeks to help municipal leaders understand the value and promise of addressing their residents’ financial barriers.
For more information about NLC’s efforts to help residents become financially stable and how to get started, contact the Economic Opportunity and Financial Empowerment team.
The Wells Fargo Foundation generously supported NLC’s Financial Empowerment Scan Project that produced the A Decade of Municipal Financial Empowerment Strategies: Findings from a 2024 Field Scan.
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