National Community Survey: Dublin rates high for quality of life; housing affordability and transit lag

City staff and Polco/National Research Center presented results of the 2025 National Community Survey (NCS) to Dublin City Council on May 19, reporting high overall resident satisfaction but growing concerns about housing affordability and public transit.

Lindsay Weisnauer, Dublin’s project contact, and Brandon Barnett of Polco told council the city received 565 completed responses from a randomly selected mail sample (19% response rate, ±4.1 percentage points margin of error) and an additional 245 open-participation responses provided separately in the full report. The NCS uses standardized questions that allow benchmarking against a national database.

Barnett summarized headline findings: 99% of respondents rated Dublin as an excellent or good place to live; Dublin ranked in the 90th percentile nationally for “place to live” among communities in the benchmark database. Safety and emergency services received very high ratings: “Virtually all” residents said they feel safe in their neighborhoods and downtown during the day, and ambulance/fire services and crime-prevention efforts scored well above national averages.

At the same time, several items showed declining trends or lower relative performance. Ratings for the availability of affordable, quality housing fell from 51% positive to 32% positive; Barnett said affordability items have declined nationwide over the past 18 months and Dublin’s pattern is “similar to the national benchmark.” Public transportation received the lowest rating in mobility items, with only 36% positive; Barnett noted it did see a statistically significant increase compared with a prior 2018 iteration but remains the lowest-rated mobility service.

Council members asked for demographic-breakdown detail and context for the declines. Barnett said the survey includes interactive demographic tables and that nothing unusual stood out in subgroup comparisons. Councilmember Fox noted an apparent discrepancy between Dublin’s silver bicycle-status award and an 80% positive rating for bicycling; Barnett said the difference may reflect resident awareness rather than infrastructure availability.

Weisnauer and Barnett said staff will use the quality-importance gap analysis in the final report to identify areas for resource allocation and follow-up. Barnett recommended jurisdictions use the NCS to track trends over time and inform budgeting and strategic planning. The full report and appendices will be made available to council and the public.

No vote was taken; council asked follow-up questions and staff flagged the report for future reference in budgeting and planning discussions.