Despite an overall decline in attention to local news, a majority of Americans (68%) say they at least sometimes get news and information about local government and politics, on par with the share who get news about local traffic.
Americans are more likely to say they at least sometimes get news about local weather (90%) and crime (77%) than about local government (68%). But smaller majorities say they get local news about arts and culture, the economy, schools, and sports.
Older adults are much more likely than younger people to follow news about local government, mirroring a pattern seen with local news consumption as a whole.
Roughly eight-in-ten Americans ages 65 and older (81%) say they at least sometimes get local political news, including 34% who do this often. By comparison, 56% of Americans 18 to 29 at least sometimes get news about local politics (12% often).
There also is some variation in levels of local political news consumption across racial and ethnic groups. About three-in-ten Black Americans (29%) say they often keep up with news about local government, higher than other groups. Black Americans also are especially likely to follow local news in general.
Republicans and Democrats, including independents who lean toward each party, report getting news on local government and politics at similar rates.
Americans’ sources for local political news
The most common sources Americans turn to for local political news include friends and family, local news outlets, and social media platforms.
Seven-in-ten U.S. adults often or sometimes get local political news from their friends, family and neighbors. About two-thirds (66%) at least sometimes get information about local politics from local news outlets. And 54% of U.S. adults get local political news on social media.
About three-in-ten Americans at least sometimes get local political news from local government websites (32%), local nonprofits or advocacy groups (31%), and local politicians (30%).
There are no major differences between Democrats and Republicans in how often they get local political news from most kinds of sources. However, Democrats are modestly more likely to get local political news from government websites and nonprofits or advocacy groups.
Americans of different age groups tend to use different sources for local political news
Although younger Americans generally follow news about local government and politics less closely than their older counterparts, they are more likely to see such news on social media. About seven-in-ten U.S. adults ages 18 to 29 (71%) often or sometimes get local political news on social media, compared with 36% of those 65 and older.
This mirrors patterns in news consumption more broadly: Young adults are more likely to turn to digital pathways for news.
In contrast, older people are more inclined to use news outlets for local political news. Three-quarters of Americans ages 65 and older say they at least sometimes get news on local politics from local news outlets, while 53% of adults under 30 do this.
Older adults also are more likely to get local political news directly from local politicians.
There are only small or no differences among age groups in the shares who get local political news from other sources. About seven-in-ten Americans of all age groups at least sometimes hear news about local government and politics from their friends, family and neighbors.
