What Makes a Community Livable? The Data Behind the Question

What makes a place truly livable? Is it the number of restaurants and parks? Commute times? The economy? Ask 10 people and you might get 10 different answers.

But when thousands of residents from across the country are asked the same set of questions - the kind of standardized, scientific questions found in The National Community Survey™ (The NCS™) - a different picture begins to emerge. One that’s rich with nuance, grounded in experience, and, sometimes, surprising.

Let’s explore what the data actually tells us about livability, and how that definition is shifting across America.

Livability Is About More Than Just Location

We often think about livability in terms of geography or amenities. But The NCS reveals that the most important dimensions of livability are far more interconnected and values-driven than expected. Polco’s NCS survey measures livability across 10 key domains, including:

• Economy
• Mobility
• Safety
• Education
• Inclusivity & Engagement
• Health and Wellness
• Parks and Recreation
• Natural Environment
• Utilities
• Community Design

These domains are not just abstract categories, they’re derived from over 25 years of research led by Polco’s National Research Center (NRC) team and aligned with public priorities across hundreds of cities and counties.

Surprisingly, what consistently rises to the top isn’t flashy development or pricey infrastructure. It’s often the everyday basics:

• Feeling safe in one’s neighborhood
• Having clean and well-maintained parks
• Reliable trash pickup and snow removal
• The trustworthiness and transparency of local government
• A feeling of belonging and connectedness to the community
• Affordability - not just housing costs, but daily living

In short, people care deeply about how their daily lives feel, not just how their community looks on a brochure. Across hundreds of communities, key factors consistently rise to the top. These aren’t just preferences. They’re statistically valid, representative reflections of what matters most to people where they live.

What Surprises the Data Holds

One of the most revealing aspects of The NCS data is how some of the “big-ticket” issues (like economic development) don’t always outrank more personal or immediate concerns like trash pickup or road maintenance. For example:

• Residents often rate library services higher in importance than access to nightlife or high-end retail.
• Snow removal and sidewalk maintenance regularly outperform more glamorous infrastructure projects in terms of perceived impact on quality of life.
• Trust in government doesn’t come from press conferences, it correlates more strongly with transparency, communication, and follow-through on everyday services.

In fact, Polco’s benchmarking shows that local trust levels can vary by over 30 percentage points between similar communities, depending on how well engagement and transparency are handled.

The implication? People want to see their governments deliver on the basics and communicate clearly. Fancy initiatives without community buy-in or feedback loops rarely move the needle on satisfaction.

A Warning Sign: The Decline in Public Trust

Perhaps one of the most sobering trends in recent years is the steady decline in trust in local government across many communities. Even in places where services are functioning well, residents increasingly express skepticism or disengagement.

But there’s a silver lining: The same data shows that meaningful engagement can reverse this trend. Communities that:

• Share survey results openly,
• Act visibly on feedback,
• And engage residents in decision-making processes

...they not only reverse trust declines, they build durable civic relationships that last beyond election cycles or budget years.

One case study in Shakopee, Minnesota, showed how a simple Taxpayer Receipt tool, paired with a humorous explainer video, led to 22,000+ views and higher resident understanding and appreciation for city services.

It’s not about being perfect, it’s about being participatory.

A More Complete Definition of Livability

At Polco, we work with communities across the country to measure, understand, and improve what makes life better for their residents. And if the data from The National Community Survey tells us anything, it’s that:

Livability isn’t just about the place. It’s about the people, their voices, and the systems that listen to them. A livable community is one where:

• People feel heard.
• Leaders act on what matters.
• Daily life is not just affordable - but dignified, safe, and connected.

And most importantly, livability is something that can be measured, tracked, and improved, using tools like The NCS™ and performance dashboards like Polco's Track, which aggregates public sentiment and hard data into one actionable view. That’s a powerful, practical definition, and it’s one we can measure and improve on, together.

Want to see how your community stacks up?

Polco has worked with over 1,000 communities and analyzed millions of resident responses to understand what truly matters to the people they serve.