This year, we are thinking a lot about durability and sustainability. From our conference themes and new educational offerings to our research efforts and network-wide surveys, we are interested in helping communities build stable, long-lasting Main Street programs that can weather changing political and economic landscapes.

These priorities informed our annual survey of local Main Street leaders in January. The survey provides a pulse check on the priorities and challenges facing local Main Street programs and their staff. This year, we heard from 408 Main Street directors in 41 states plus Washington, D.C. The survey results have yielded more insights than we can fit in a single blog post. This article will explore foundational elements of Main Street organizations — their budgets, staffing, leadership, boards, and partners — as well as insights into how local leaders measure and report their impacts. Keep an eye out for a second article in March exploring current community challenges and 2026 program priorities!

Local Program Budgets

The annual directors survey gives us a clear sense of how Main Street organizations are faring in terms of their budgets, staffing, board support, and partnerships. Across multiple questions, this year’s data shows that Main Street leaders are sustaining their activities and resources well. 

Main Street program budgets this year are highly consistent, if not slightly more robust, compared with last year’s results. When asked how their program budgets had changed, 62% of Main Street leaders reported a year-over-year increase in their budget, while 16% reported a budget decrease. 

Staffing levels were also consistent with the previous year’s survey data. The most common Main Street staffing arrangement is a single full-time person and no part-time or contractor support (28%). Just over one-in-five local programs (22%) have a single full-time staff member and at least one part-time staff member. About a quarter of all programs (26%) have more than one full-time staff person. Meanwhile, most Main Street programs (55%) lean on 25 or more volunteers for support. 

Leadership Trends 

Main Street leader salaries and years of experience are also in line with data from past surveys. Most executive directors (51%) have annual salaries of $60,000 or more, and 52% earn between $50,000 and $80,000. Leaders report an average tenure of 5.2 years in their role. We continue to see many newcomers to the job, alongside a solid group of veteran leaders. One quarter of all respondents reported leading Main Street organizations for 10 years or more. Nearly as many (23%) reported serving as a Main Street leader for one year or less. 

Despite these encouraging signs, Main Streets still experience higher turnover among executive directors than other industries and sectors of the U.S. economy. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data indicate that about half of all staff at civic and membership organizations nationally stay in their jobs for 4.8 years, substantially higher than the median tenure of Main Street leaders, which is 3.0 years. Some overall trends in Main Street leadership tenure are driven by age: 39% of survey respondents are in the Millennial or Gen Z cohorts, and half of those respondents report at least two years of experience. In contrast, 60% of respondents are in Generation X, Baby Boomer, or Silent Generation cohorts, and half of those respondents have at least four years of experience. 

Strong Partnerships and Boards

The survey shows that Main Street organizations are well supported by their boards and community partners. Nearly all Main Street leaders (91%) reported that they were either very well or somewhat well supported by their board. We learned that boards commonly included small business owners (94%), property owners (83%), district residents (71%), elected officials (66%), senior citizens and retirees (56%), and financial industry leaders (51%). Young people under age 25 (19%), representatives from K‑12 schools (19%), people with disabilities (11%), and non-native English speakers (10%) were less often represented on Main Street boards. 

More than half of all respondents who said they weren’t very well supported by their board indicated that they wished their board supported organizational fundraising efforts more. In response to a separate question about economic development partners, meanwhile, 83% of Main Street leaders reported that they partner with local chambers of commerce, and 43% partner with small business development centers. 

Measuring Impact

Measurement and reporting of organizational impact was a special focus of this year’s survey. More than half of respondents said they agreed or strongly agreed that measuring and reporting impact were strengths of their program, and only 14% said either that they somewhat or strongly disagreed that measurement and reporting were strengths. (35% indicated they neither agreed nor disagreed.) 

We asked leaders who indicated that measurement and reporting were strengths to share how they succeed in these areas. About one-in-three leaders said they regularly work hard to stay on top of measurement and reporting with a focus on consistency. In the words of one Texas Main Street leader: ​“We follow strict reporting deadlines. Because of our accurate reports, we can report more than $880,000,000 in downtown reinvestment since 2007.” About 25% of respondents cited the storytelling and transparency benefits of continually measuring and reporting impact. A local Main Street program in Illinois said simply, ​“We keep great records, and this tells our story to others in our community.” 

Leaders who said that measurement and reporting were not strengths of their programs shared more about the challenges and difficulties they face. Main Street directors pointed to capacity limits (35 – 40% of responses), data accessibility challenges (20 – 25% of responses), and lack of institutional knowledge or challenges with staff turnover (15 – 20% of responses), among other barriers. 

A director from Montana cited a lack of institutional knowledge due to turnover, saying, ​“There have been so many hands before I got tapped to take the reins, and it’s difficult to gather the information when I’m not sure where to find it all…Years and years of institutional knowledge have been lost.” Another director from Massachusetts shared the challenge of getting business owner buy-in, saying, ​“Our businesses do not want to share revenue info with us, even in aggregate form.”

What Do You See In Your Community?

This year’s Directors Survey showcases the durability of Main Street programs. Local budgets remain strong, leader salaries have ticked up slightly, and boards and partners show strong support for operations. 

We would love to hear your reactions to these findings. What surprises you? What resonates most? Join the discussion on the Member Hub here. 

Looking for more insights from the data? Stay tuned for more thoughts on the 2026 Directors Survey coming soon. Subscribe to updates to make sure you receive emails about new articles, opportunities, and more. 

Downtown Decorations, a Main Street America Allied Member, is this quarter’s Main Spotlight advertiser. For more information about what they do to support Main Street organizations, click here.