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Durham County Reveals Results of Resident Satisfaction Survey

@SpectacularMag

Durham, N.C. – The Durham Board of County Commissioners received the results of the 2022 Durham County Resident Satisfaction survey in a presentation during the Board’s Work Session on Monday, March 6, 2023. This year’s survey results included several notable results and trends and the Durham County Public Library, Durham County Emergency Medical Services, and Durham fire response continued to receive very high satisfaction ratings.

The ETC Institute administered the survey to residents of Durham County between December 2022 and January 2023. The purpose of this survey was to help Durham County strategically plan for the future as growth continues and new challenges are met. The City and County jointly oversee the survey so that more Durham residents have an opportunity to be heard. The survey will assist elected officials, as well as the City and County administrators, in making critical decisions about prioritizing resources and helping guide the direction for the future of the community.

The survey asked several dozen high-level questions regarding perceptions of our community, different city and county functions, and other issues to a representative sample of the County population. This year’s survey was completed by 891 Durham County residents broadly representative of the entire population. The survey outcomes provided back to the City and County also include comparative data showing the results of similar questions in similar-sized communities around the Country.

The majority of respondents were satisfied with their overall experience interacting with Durham County employees. Nearly two-thirds of the respondents were very satisfied or satisfied with their experience with Durham County employees, citing courtesy and accurate information received and appropriateness of their response. Durham County rates 12 percent higher than the U.S. average for large communities in the overall quality of County services and 26 percent higher in customer services from county employees. 

Compared to other mid-sized and larger communities around the country, Durham’s services and perceptions rank very highly, with a few exceptions such as satisfaction with public transit and public schools. However, both of these categories have shown marked improvement in satisfaction in the past few surveys.

Based on the sum of respondents’ top three choices, the major categories of services that, are the most important to respondents and respondents think City and County leaders should place the most emphasis on over the next two years, were:

  • Quality of police protection (49.9 percent),
  • Quality of public schools (35.8 percent), and
  • Maintenance of City streets (31.3 percent).

When asked to prioritize the top 5 services to increase funding for, over 60 percent of respondents said public school operations (67.2 percent) and affordable housing (63.6 percent). Other top 5 categories were street maintenance, job creation/training, and youth programming. 

Overall, the resident survey, which has been conducted annually since 2015, concluded that nearly four out of every five respondents think Durham is either an excellent or good place to live and work. Community ratings for a good place to visit and as a community that values the diversity of residents scored high.

For more information about the 2022 Durham County Resident Survey or to download a copy of the Findings Report and ETC Institute presentation, visit the City-County Resident Survey webpage where surveys date back to 2015. Listen to a presentation of the results to the Board here.