DEPARTMENT: Office of Performance and Analysis (OPA)
FILE TYPE: Regular Information
TITLE
title
Report On Results Of 2025 Multi-County Residential Opinion Survey
end
PURPOSE/ACTION REQUESTED
Provide a report on the results of the 2025 Multi-County Residential Opinion Survey.
SUMMARY
Dakota County Commissioners have directed that a scientifically valid, random-sample public opinion survey be conducted on a two-to-three year cycle for two decades. The surveys gather objective information about residents' perceptions of quality of life, quality of services provided, and their satisfaction with county government. In July 2024, the Board authorized the 2025 Residential Survey; the most recent prior survey was in 2022.
In 2025, Dakota, Olmsted, Scott, St. Louis, and Washington counties collaborated to survey residential households to assess residential opinions and the performance of county government. As with the seven previous residential surveys conducted since 2004, the 2025 Residential Survey Project is a partnership between these counties. Collaborating lowers costs and improves the utility of the survey by providing comparable data and information across organizations.
The survey was conducted by our consultant, Polco/the National Research Center, Inc. of Middleton, Wisconsin. Polco is a national strategic planning and public opinion research firm, focusing on information needs of the public sector, and partners with the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) to conduct a national citizen survey across the country.
The survey was sent to 7,000 randomly selected residential addresses in Dakota County. The response rate was 12 percent overall and follows a trend of decreasing response rates with each successive survey since 2008. Survey results (for the responses as a whole) have a 95 percent confidence level within plus or minus four percentage points on any given question.
A copy of the survey report (Attachment: Dakota County 2025 Su...
Click here for full text