What residents think about County services

Every few years we conduct a survey of Marin County households, in both incorporated (our cities and towns) and unincorporated areas, to measure residents’ perceptions of the quality of public services and aspects of community livability. The survey also helps the Board of Supervisors determine the community’s most important priorities.

We rely on these surveys to help us:  

• Evaluate services 
• Understand resident needs, and  
• Plan for the future

The survey asks questions about general quality of life, local policies, demographics, and rating of government services. It helps us compare (or "benchmark") Marin’s results to other communities nationwide. Most questions are the same as those asked of all other communities to help with benchmarking.

We also include custom questions to help us assess whether the Board of Supervisors’ top community priorities are consistent with those of the people it serves. The current priorities include building a racially equitable community; investing in County infrastructure; preserving and increasing affordable housing, and addressing homelessness; reducing carbon emissions and adapting to climate change; enhancing disaster preparedness; and addressing County workforce recruitment and retention. Community members’ perspectives about the Board of Supervisors’ current and potential priorities help to inform future plans.

Review the 2023 Community Survey results online.

Some of the key findings of the survey include:

• The community highly values, and highly prioritizes Marin’s natural environment.
• While the community’s opinion of Marin’s emergency preparedness efforts has improved since 2018, residents continue to see natural disasters as a key area of concern.
• Housing availability and affordability remain among the highest priorities for most residents, and solutions for homelessness has grown as a focus since 2018.
• Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) remain high priorities.

The 2023 Community Survey was conducted by Polco/National Research Center using the same survey given in 2018, called the National Community Survey (NCS). This allows us to benchmark any shift community priorities or perceptions from 2018 to now. The NCS is the same survey used by many counties across the nation, which also allows us to compare ourselves to other counties. 

NRC randomly selected 4,395 households in Marin County (among all households) to be surveyed between April 21 through June 9, 2023. A total 803 surveys were completed, for a response rate of 18% and a margin of error of 3.5%.

The survey includes 120 questions that focus on 10 “facets of livability”: Economy; Mobility; Community Design; Utilities; Safety; Natural Environment; Parks and Recreation; Health and Wellness; Education, Arts and Culture; and Inclusivity and Engagement. It also included 20 custom questions designed to measure the community’s priorities. 

In addition to the random-sample “scientific” survey, an “opt-in” survey was made available to all residents, which was heavily publicized through social and news media, and the County’s network of community partners. Another 894 community members responded to the opt-in survey. The random sample survey and the opt-in survey were conducted separately, and the responses collected were kept as separate datasets. 

The data from the NCS will provide valuable information to help the County understand community priorities and concerns. This will help to guide decisions on allocation of resources, delivery of services, and areas of focus across all of the County’s 22 departments. 

Acknowledging that even the best survey doesn’t give voice to every part of our community, the County will continue to engage the community through initiatives like Participatory Budgeting, our Race Equity Action Plan, and other initiatives aimed at lifting up the voices of Marin’s communities of color, immigrant communities, unhoused communities, and others who are often underrepresented in traditional data collection methods. 

These multiple sources of data combined will work together to inform countywide strategic planning and goal-setting activities ahead, as well as guiding how we prioritize our resources.  

A summary of findings from the 2023 Community Survey was presented to the Board of Supervisors on November 7, 2023. County Executive staff will hold ongoing meetings with County departments to discuss how the NCS and other recently developed tools can inform and enhance our efforts to continuously improve as an organization.    

Survey results can be found below.