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Buckeye residents rate overall quality of life high; transit and natural areas lag in 2026 community survey
Summary
Polco's 2026 National Community Survey for Buckeye found roughly eight in 10 residents rate the city as an excellent or good place to live, while public transportation and natural areas scored below national benchmarks; the city will receive district-level cross-tabulations for planning and budgeting.
Sonya, executive vice president of data and insights at Polco, told the Buckeye City Council on May 19 that Polco received 487 completed probability-based mail surveys for the city's 2026 National Community Survey (NCS), producing a margin of error of about ±4.4%.
"We select our sample without bias," Sonya said, describing Polco's methodology and the separate open-participation survey that drew 431 additional responses posted online. She said the probability sample is the basis for the official results staff will use for comparisons and benchmarking.
The survey asked residents to rate 10 facets of livability. Most items tracked near Polco's national benchmarks; three items outperformed peers, about 100 were similar, and 18 were lower. Areas where Buckeye scored better than comparable cities included cost of living and the variety and availability of housing options. Lower ratings were concentrated in transportation (driven primarily by public-transit items), health and wellness, culture and arts, and some measures of economic opportunity.
Polco highlighted that "nearly eight in 10 respondents rated Buckeye as excellent or good as a place to live," and that high marks were recorded for police, fire and emergency medical services. The presentation noted improvements since the 2023 survey in downtown safety and property-crime perceptions.
Council members asked whether respondents conflated "transportation" with "transit." Sonya said detailed component questions show travel by car, walking and biking were on par with peer cities and improved since 2023, while lower scores were concentrated in public-transit items. On open space, Polco clarified the decline related to "natural areas" rather than developed parks and suggested the city could address perception through messaging about preserved open lands.
Polco said district-level cross-tabulations and demographic splits are available; staff confirmed departments will receive the data and use it as input for the upcoming budget and facilities planning.
The report will be posted online with more detailed tables and open-participation responses; city staff offered to return with district-specific charts if council wants them.
