City of Pensacola Resident Satisfaction Survey Results Now Available

Survey Sees 55 Percent Increase in Resident Participation

The City of Pensacola has received results from the 2019 Resident Satisfaction Survey, which shows an overall satisfaction with core city services, the city's image and business-friendly environment. A total of 808 residents completed the online survey, which was a 55 percent increase from the number of survey completions in 2018.

The survey was conducted by the University of West Florida Haas Center to assess resident satisfaction with a variety of city services and determine residents' top priorities for the City of Pensacola. Data will be used by the city to identify budget priorities and areas for improvement to provide high quality services to residents.

"I am glad to see such a great response rate from our residents, which shows us that we have a community of engaged citizens who want to see their city succeed," Mayor Grover Robinson said. "We are looking forward to using these survey results to continue to improve city services for our residents and maintain the high quality of life we strive for in the City of Pensacola. Thank you to the UWF Haas Center for their research, and to all of our residents who took the time to provide feedback and let us know what's most important to them."

Highlights from the survey results include:

Overall, respondents remain satisfied with core city services. Residents reported high satisfaction with police services, fire services and Parks and Recreation.
More than half of respondents (52 percent) said they were either very satisfied or satisfied with the ease of obtaining information about city services.
Generally, participants were satisfied with the city's image and business-friendly environment.
Nearly 60 percent of respondents said they were either very satisfied or satisfied with public access to waterfront.
35 percent of respondents said they either strongly agreed or agreed that the City of Pensacola has improved sidewalks in their neighborhood over the past year.
67 percent of respondents said they were very satisfied or satisfied with the City of Pensacola's performance in promoting the city's image.

Areas for improvement identified by the survey include:

Two net promoter score questions suggest there is still some work for the city to do in order to move more residents from a “passive” category to “promoters” of the city as a recommended place to live and as a "City of Excellence."
Customer service and responsiveness ratings with some outward-facing departments
Continued improvements related to sidewalks, street lighting, stormwater infrastructure and roadway safety in the city
Housing market affordability

Residents were asked to rank their top two priorities for the city, identifying community safety and environmental issues as their number one and number two priorities. Community safety was chosen as the number one priority by 35 percent of respondents, and environmental issues (air and land quality) was chosen as the number two priority by 25 percent of respondents.

Although the City of Pensacola has conducted satisfaction surveys through the Haas Center since 2014, the 2019 survey sets a new benchmark for the city, with updated questions that align with the city's strategic plan.

Also new this year were two net promoter score questions, which are designed to measure customer experience and loyalty. The questions asked residents whether they would recommend living in the City of Pensacola to family and friends, along with rating the city's progress in becoming a "City of Excellence."

The online survey period began Nov. 15, 2019 and ended Jan. 10, 2020, which included a four-week extension. The results coincide with a 3.43 margin of sampling error at a 95 percent confidence level.

To view the full results, visit cityofpensacola.com.

Bar graph showing whether residents agree or disagree that public safety has improved in the City of Pensacola

Responses to the survey question "When thinking about public safety in the city, how strongly do you agree or disagree with the following statements? Over the past year, the City of Pensacola has improved:"

Responses to the two net promoter score questions in the Resident Satisfaction Survey, showing the number of respondents who rated the city as a 9 or 10, which is considered a "promoter" of the city.

For more information or general questions, email pio@cityofpensacola.com. To stay informed about what's happening with City of Pensacola government, sign up for email or text notifications through Notify Me or follow @CityofPensacola on social media.