SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 28, 2026--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nextdoor Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: NXDR), the essential neighborhood network, today released findings from a nationally representative survey on the state of neighborhood trust in America, conducted with The Harris Poll. The results complicate the familiar story of social disconnection. Key findings from the survey reveal the practical foundation stronger communities are built on remains intact, and in a growing number of neighborhoods, the trust between neighbors is getting stronger. Still, fewer Americans describe their neighbors as trustworthy than a decade ago.
What Holds Neighborhoods Together
Two-thirds of Americans (67%) could call on a neighbor for help if they needed it, and 64% feel a sense of belonging in their neighborhood. Nearly as many, 63%, trust their neighbors to keep an eye on their home when they are away. More than a quarter (27%) say they want more interaction with their neighbors than they have today.
That foundation carries practical weight. When Americans need a recommendation for a contractor or a local service, neighbors rank ahead of online reviews as a trusted source: 35% trust neighbors a lot or completely, compared with 25% for online reviews and 14% for social media influencers.
Asked what strengthens trust between neighbors, 66% cite regular day-to-day interactions, the most common answer by a wide margin, with long-term residency next at 45%. Trust grows with frequency of contact, and the barrier for most people is the absence of easy, recurring ways to interact.
"The difference between a neighborhood and a community is trust," said Kelsey Grady, EVP of Communications at Nextdoor. "We built Nextdoor because people did not know their neighbors, and all of the knowledge their neighbors held was out of reach. Fifteen years later, information is everywhere, but it still lacks the trust that only a neighbor can provide. This data shows the demand for that kind of connection is real. Where the conditions exist to build trust, people are already building it."
Where Trust Is Growing, and Where It Is Not
Nearly a third of Americans (32%) say trust in their neighborhood has strengthened over the past five years, double the 16% who say it has weakened. Adults ages 25 to 34 report the largest gains of any age group, at 45%. The gains are not confined to one part of the country, ranging from 30% in the Northeast to 36% in the Midwest.
The shortfall is sharpest for young adults. Among Americans ages 18 to 24, 69% feel lonely or socially isolated at least sometimes, compared with 46% of adults overall, and only 24% feel welcomed or included by their neighbors, against 41% overall. That same group is asking for more contact: 38% want more interaction with their neighbors, against 27% of Americans overall. Asked what most weakens trust among neighbors, Americans point first to a lack of communication, at 46%.
Five Neighbors Recognized on Good Neighbor Day
National Good Neighbor Day gives Nextdoor a chance to put faces to those numbers. Today Nextdoor is recognizing five honorees, one from each region of the country, for the kind of everyday acts this survey identifies as the strongest drivers of trust:
Southeast: Dorea of Raleigh, North Carolina, who turned a meal for four neighbors on a cold January night into Lasagna Wednesdays, a free weekly dinner organized entirely through Nextdoor that now serves about 100 people a week, with no questions asked and no proof of need required.
Southwest: Bhagwat Gupta of Pearland, Texas, who spent two decades volunteering in his 400-home Autumn Lake community and, as HOA president, led a five-year rebuild of its shared spaces while insisting every project be photographed and put to a community vote.
Midwest: Dan Schaefer of North Liberty, Iowa, who organized weeks of meals for a neighbor recovering alone after a hospital stay and, five months later, is still bringing her bins to the curb every week.
Northeast: Dan Brinsky of Lafayette Township, Pennsylvania, who plowed a hospitalized neighbor's snowbound driveway all winter without being asked, so the man's wife could get to the hospital to see him, and who keeps the community's gravel road passable year round.
West: Karl and Debbie Word of Lake Chelan Valley, Washington, who mowed a neighbor's lawn and pruned her rose garden while her husband was in surgery an hour away, and who plow every driveway on their road each winter.
About Nextdoor’s 2026 National Good Neighbor Day Nominations
National Good Neighbor Day, observed each September, recognizes the everyday people who make a neighborhood feel like a community. This year, Nextdoor invited neighbors nationwide to nominate someone who showed up for them, from Tuesday, August 25 through Monday, September 14, using the hashtag #GoodNeighborDay. Nominations were scored against a consistent rubric and reviewed by Nextdoor employees, who selected five honorees, one from each U.S. region, based on how specific and lasting the nominated act was and the difference it made.
About the Survey
This survey was conducted online in the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of Nextdoor from April 16 to 20, 2026, among 1,003 adults ages 18 and older. Results were weighted for age within gender, region, race/ethnicity, marital status, household size, household income, education, and political affiliation where necessary to align them with their actual proportions in the population. Respondents are selected among those who have agreed to participate in our surveys. The sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval. The sample data is accurate to within +/- 3.8 percentage points using a 95% confidence level. This credible interval will be wider among subsets of the surveyed population of interest. All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to other multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including, but not limited to coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments.
About Nextdoor
Nextdoor (NYSE: NXDR) is the essential neighborhood network for over 110 million verified neighbors, offering trusted local news, real-time safety alerts, neighbor recommendations, for sale and free listings, and events. Nextdoor connects neighbors to the people, places, and information that matter most in their local communities. In addition, businesses, news publishers, and public agencies use Nextdoor to share important information and engage with neighborhoods at scale. Download the app or join the neighborhood at nextdoor.com. For more information and media assets, visit nextdoor.com/newsroom.
Media Contact:
Kelsey Grady
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