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