Satisfaction with Oklahoma City as a place to live, work, raise children, visit and retire is significantly above the national average according to results from the City’s annual survey administered in July by surveyor, ETC Institute.
The survey results are available on okc.gov.
Oklahoma City ranked 33% above the national average as a place to live, 19% above as a place to work and 12% above as a place to retire. As a place to raise children, Oklahoma City ranked 6% above the national average and as a place to visit, we rated 4% above the national average.
The results show Oklahoma City employees are setting the standard for service delivery compared to the national average. Residents rated the Fire Department 92%, trash services 85%, ambulance 75%, Police Department 69%, water utilities 67%, and Parks and Recreation 65%. These results were anywhere from 30% to 5% above the national average.
The customer service received from City employees was 20% above the national average and is among the best in the nation.
“We are always working to improve the services we provide our customers and the interactions we have with our residents,” City Manager Craig Freeman said. “Our employees love this community and are committed to serving residents with integrity and professionalism.”
Although OKC is setting the standard in many areas, several of the City’s ratings declined from 2022, a trend ETC reported as consistent with most U.S. cities over the past year.
The top areas of improvement for Oklahoma City include street maintenance, traffic flow, code enforcement and public transportation.
“The resident survey is important because it gives us needed feedback from our residents, which helps us prioritize funding for important projects and services,” Freeman added. “Because of past survey results, we allocated more than half of the Better Streets Safer City bond issue to improving streets and traffic flow Citywide.”
The top five areas that saw the most improvement over the past year include:
- Enforcement of yard parking
- Enforcing sign regulations
- Quality of animal control
- Efforts to remove inoperative vehicles
- Property maintenance in neighborhoods
Areas that saw the biggest decreases from last year include:
- Enforcement of junk and debris on private property
- Enforcing mowing and cutting of weeds on private property
- Condition of City sidewalks
Other notable findings include:
- 91% of residents think they have been treated fairly by OKC police officers.
- Access and service frequency are the most important considerations influencing decisions to use public transportation.
- 31% of residents think homelessness is a problem at least once a week in their neighborhood.
- 3 in 4 residents have used City Parks or recreation programs in the past year.
- 48% of residents get their information about the City through social media compared to 28% in 2019.
Purpose
The purpose of the survey is to assess resident satisfaction with City services, gather input from residents to help set priorities and track OKC’s performance against itself and with other similar-sized cities over time.
Methodology
This is the 15th year the six-page survey was administered by phone, mail, text and online to a randomly selected sample of households in Oklahoma City. The sample was designed to ensure the results would be statistically valid for each of the City’s eight wards. At least 150 surveys were completed in each ward, and a total of 1,297 residents responded.
Better Streets, Safer City
Improvements to streets, traffic flow, police and parks are being made through a 10-year, $967 million bond package called Better Streets, Safer City, a permanent ¼ cent sales tax to hire more police officers and firefighters and MAPS 4.
# # #
Media Contact
Kristy Yager
(405) 297-2550
kristy.yager@okc.gov