The National Community Survey™ Report
The City of Cedar Rapids has conducted The National Community Survey™ (The NCS™) every other year, in 2016, 2018, 2020, and 2022. Using scientific survey methods, the survey is designed to provide information about how the city government is serving residents, to gauge perceptions of the City, and to make comparisons with peer cities. The survey centers on community livability and includes questions about the quality of life in the community, local policies, demographics, rating of local government services and resident use of services. The City plans to conduct ongoing surveys every two years in order to track trends, gauge citizen perceptions, and solicit feedback.
Survey results measure public perceptions and areas of interest for residents. Overall results for 2022 showed positive ratings and marked improvements since the first survey conducted in 2016 in a number of important categories.
City Council and staff utilize the results of the survey to help with future visioning and goal setting.
View the results:
About The National Community Survey™:
The National Community Survey™ is provided by the National Research Center (NRC) at Polco in partnership with the International City/County Management Association (ICMA). NRC benchmarks against more than 500 jurisdictions throughout the country. The NCS™ is a high-quality cost-effective scientific survey of resident opinion and an important benchmarking tool that allows for comparison among communities. Communities using The NCS™ have reported that the tool helped improve performance, strengthen communications with community stakeholders, and identify clear priorities for use in goal and budget setting.
