All about the "livability" of Muscatine

The National Community Survey™ (The NCS™) report is about the “livability” of Muscatine. A livable community is a place that is not simply habitable, but that is desirable. It is not only where people do live, but where they want to live. The survey was developed by the experts from National Research Center at Polco.

Great communities are partnerships of the government, private sector, community-based organizations and residents, all geographically connected. The NCS captures residents’ opinions considering ten central facets of a community:

Economy

Mobility

Community Design

Utilities

Safety

Natural Environment

Parks and Recreation

Health and Wellness

Education, Arts, and Culture

Inclusivity and Engagement

The report provides the opinions of a representative sample of 573 residents of the City of Muscatine collected from January 21st, 2022 to March 11th, 2022. The margin of error around any reported percentage is 4% for all respondents and the response rate for the 2022 survey was 15%. Survey results were weighted so that the demographic profile of respondents was representative of the demographic profile of adults in Muscatine.

How the results are reported

For the most part, the percentages presented in the following tabs represent the “percent positive.” Most commonly, the percent positive is the combination of the top two most positive response options (i.e., excellent/good, very safe/somewhat safe, etc.). On many of the questions in the survey respondents may answer “don’t know.” The proportion of respondents giving this reply is shown in the full set of responses included in the tab “Complete data.” However, these responses have been removed from the analyses presented in most of the tabs. In other words, the tables and graphs display the responses from respondents who had an opinion about a specific item.

Comparisons to benchmarks

NRC’s database of comparative resident opinion is comprised of resident perspectives gathered in surveys from over 600 communities whose residents evaluated the same kinds of topics on The National Community Survey. The comparison evaluations are from the most recent survey completed in each community in the last five years. NRC adds the latest results quickly upon survey completion, keeping the benchmark data fresh and relevant. The communities in the database represent a wide geographic and population range. In each tab, Muscatine's results are noted as being “higher” than the benchmark, “lower” than the benchmark, or “similar” to the benchmark, meaning that the average rating given by Muscatine residents is statistically similar to or different (greater or lesser) than the benchmark. Being rated as “higher” or “lower” than the benchmark means that Muscatine's average rating for a particular item was more than 10 points different than the benchmark. If a rating was “much higher” or “much lower,” then Muscatine's average rating was more than 20 points different when compared to the benchmark.

The survey was administered during the COVID-19 pandemic, a time of challenge for many local governments. While we provide comparisons to national benchmarks, it is important to note that much of the benchmark data was collected prior to the pandemic. This may impact how your City's 2022 ratings compare to other communities’ ratings from the past five years.