Do Your Results Match the Headlines? The Zip Code Gap

Your customers don't all feel the same.

Last week's economic update must have struck a chord, one of the highest engagements from you guys! Given that, we decided to dig deeper because like I always say, average is awful.

(BTW — I've been traveling this week, so next week, we'll be back with our regular video.)

The economic intricacies between demographic segments make a big difference. It's worth paying attention to whether you run a business with customers spread across the country, or a centralized business with customers only in one particular region.

Broadly, the more urban the area — from rural to suburban to urban — the more intense your customers' emotional and financial lives become. Where your customer base is concentrated may very well shape what you're seeing in your numbers.

The more population concentration there is, the more intense your customers' emotional and financial lives become.

Let's dive in.

Higher highs, lower lows in the city

Urban dwellers report living at higher emotional volume than their suburban and rural counterparts, and the pattern holds in both the highs and the lows.

On the upside:

• 44% of urban respondents feel happy most or all of the time (4 points above both other groups)

• 39% feel joyful (a full 7 points higher)

On the downside:

• 18% of urban dwellers feel fearful (7 points above everyone else)

• 20% feel like crying (8 points above suburban dwellers)

• 17% feel like screaming

The trend persists across other emotions: hopeful, confused, connected, disgusted, and more.

The takeaway isn't "city people are sadder" or "happier." It's that urban life turns the dial up on the whole emotional spectrum. If your customer base skews urban, you're likely engaging people who feel more of everything, which has meaningful implications for tone, messaging, and how complaints or delight tend to land.

The spending tells the same story

That emotional intensity carries into their economic sentiment towards spending or not spending. Urban dwellers are the most willing to “spend as usual.”

Thinking back to last week's chart:

• 30% of urban consumers are in the "green" — spending normally and enjoying their usual activities — 11 points ahead of suburban dwellers and 13 points ahead of rural ones.

• Suburban consumers are the most cautious, sitting in the "yellow" of waiting-and-watching at 46%.

• Rural consumers are the most pulled back, with 45% in the "red" — anxious about the economy and holding off until things settle.

The same types of areas that report the highest emotional highs are also the ones leaning into spending, while rural customers are applying the brakes hardest.

One thing that stands out: Rural is the only area where the "red" is the leading attitude. Among both urban and suburban, "yellow" leads the way. If your footprint is rural-heavy, a softer spending environment may be structural rather than a sign that something's wrong with your offer.

Rural is the only area where the "red" (anxious/very anxious about the economy) is the leading attitude.

And income explains a lot of it

Not surprising that income varies massively by area type.

• Rural households are by far the most likely to earn under $50K (54%, versus 44% urban and 36% suburban).

• Suburban households cluster in the middle, with the highest share in the $50K–$100K band (34%, against roughly 26% for both urban and rural).

• Urban households edge out everyone at the top, with 27% earning over $100K — narrowly ahead of suburban and well ahead of rural's 15%.

But "urban is richer" is the wrong summary

Urban income is actually a barbell. The city holds a high share of the lowest earners (22% under $25K, not far off rural's 29%) and a standout concentration of comfortable households (12.5% in the $125K–$150K band, nearly double suburban and more than triple rural). It's the same zip codes housing both ends.

Higher urban spending confidence and higher urban emotional intensity aren't being driven by a uniformly affluent city. They're averages sitting on top of two very different populations crammed together.

Geography isn't causing any one of these on its own, but it's a proxy for a bundle of differences that move together — and the bundle is widest, and most internally divided, in the city.

But "urban is richer" is the wrong summary.

So What, Now What?

If your business is concentrated in one type of area, your read on "the consumer" is really a read on that consumer. A rural-weighted business and an urban-weighted one are looking at genuinely different people — different incomes, different spending appetite, different emotional registers — even in the same month, in the same economy.

The practical move is to know where you sit on the scale

If you're diverse across regions, your aggregate numbers are blending these groups, and the average may hide a split worth segmenting. If you're concentrated, benchmark yourself against your region rather than the national figure. Either way, "where your customers live" is a sharp lens to evaluate your business from.

Once again, average is awful! I encourage you to look deeper… You'll be surprised what's hiding underneath!

Lisa W. Miller is a consumer insights researcher, strategist, and founder of LWM Associates. A former VP of Innovation at Brinker International and VP of Insights & Strategy at Frito-Lay/PepsiCo, she has conducted proprietary research on Gen Z, American consumer behavior, and workplace dynamics. Her data has been featured in the Wall Street Journal and across more than 300 media appearances. Her podcast and newsletter, The Business of Joy, explores how leaders and consumers navigate an uncertain world.