Despite dropping in the third quarter, consumer sentiment in the Dallas-Fort Worth area remained in positive territory, albeit just barely.
The Metropolitan Consumer Sentiment Index shows that DFW scored 100.3 in the most recently completed quarter, down from the 103.4 recorded in Q2. Any score above 100 signifies positive sentiment.
The metroplex ranked No. 10 on the index of 40 major metro areas. The metric tracks consumer and business sentiments using over 5,000 daily interviews. Despite the still positive reading, the metric has been falling throughout 2025.
Consumer sentiment in DFW was still higher than in some other cities in Texas, with San Antonio coming in at No. 12, followed by Austin at No. 13. Both San Antonio and Austin recorded scores below 100, implying negative sentiment. However, Houston led the entire country, clocking a score of 104.4 in the third quarter, nearly unchanged from the 104.6 seen during the first quarter of the year.
Atlanta came in at No. 2 in the U.S., followed by Jacksonville, Florida, at No. 3.
The country as a whole saw consumer sentiment drop from 97.03 in Q2 to 95.75 in Q3.
John Leer, chief economist at Morning Consult, one of the publishers of the index along with American City Business Journals, attributes the country’s overall softening mood partly to the government shutdown.
“I think people deep down have a reasonably sophisticated understanding of the economy,” Leer said in an interview before the recent breakthrough in shutdown negotiations, per Dallas Business Journal. “A shutdown in the government means there’s a very large set of people who are not getting paid, which means they’re less likely to buy things. That translates into income for other folks and questionable job outcomes.”
Leer also said differences exist between the current government shutdown and the last one that occurred in 2018. Back then, says Leer, the labor market was stronger and inflation was lower, delivering a more optimistic economic backdrop that enabled sentiment to rebound rapidly after the shutdown ended. He does not necessarily believe we will see the same improvement this time around.
“Things were not particularly rosy heading into the government shutdown,” Leer said.