A majority of surveyed McKinney residents positively rated the city’s economic health, safety and quality of life in a recent citizen satisfaction survey, according to a presentation at a June 20 City Council meeting.

How we got here

McKinney citizen satisfaction has been analyzed through a survey method four times since 2017 as part of the National Community Survey. The 123-question survey evaluated residents' opinions on 10 factors that contribute to quality of life including economy, mobility, community design and more, according to city documents.

The 2023 survey was conducted by The National Research Center at Polco from January to March, according to the presentation. The survey was distributed to 4,500 randomly selected McKinney households, and the survey received 466 responses, representing 11% of the sample pool, according to city documents.

An open response version of the survey, available to any McKinney resident, was conducted beginning March 3. This survey garnered 966 responses, but the data was reported separately from the responses collected from a random sample, Polco Senior Survey Associate Joe Dell’Olio said.

By the numbers

Surveyed McKinney residents gave majority “good” or “excellent” ratings for multiple quality of life factors, including:

• 92% of residents rated the city of McKinney as a good or excellent place to live.
• 67% of residents reported good or excellent confidence in McKinney’s government.
• 88% of respondents rated McKinney’s economy as good or excellent.
• 84% of residents rated the overall quality of parks and recreation opportunities as good or excellent.
• The overall design and layout of McKinney’s residential and commercial areas was given good or excellent ratings by 71% of respondents.

Other factors that received ratings included the overall quality of the transportation system, which received good or excellent ratings from 41% of respondents. Bus and transit services received positive ratings from 20% of respondents, and the ease of travel by public transportation was given positive ratings by 19% of respondents, both lower than national averages, according to survey results.

McKinney’s downtown and commercial area also ranked “much higher” than national averages, with 85% of respondents giving good or excellent ratings, according to survey results.

The gist

Dell’Olio noted in his presentation that the surveyors drew three key conclusions from the survey results.

1. Respondents ranked safety as a “top priority” and community strength, Dell’Olio said. Over 85% of respondents ranked the overall feeling of safety as “good” or “excellent,” gaining similar ratings to national benchmarks, according to the survey. McKinney’s safety services, including fire, police and emergency medical services, also received “good” or “excellent” ratings from 80% or more respondents.
2. Survey results identified satisfaction with the city’s utility services, with 75% of respondents rating the city’s overall utility infrastructure as “good” or “excellent.” Utility billing, power utility and garbage collection received ratings consistent with national averages, while the quality of the city’s stormwater management and access to affordable high-speed internet services were rated higher than national averages at 83% and 65% respectively.
3. The city’s community design is a “potential area of opportunity,” according to Dell’Olio’s presentation. The survey results for this category all received ratings similar or higher than national averages, but showed “statistically significant” decreases from previous years’ surveys, Dell’Olio said. The city’s overall appearance was rated “good” or “excellent” by 84% of respondents, decreasing by 7% from the 2021 survey.

For more information on results from McKinney citizen surveys from 2023, as well as prior years, visit www.mckinneytexas.org/1356/citizen-survey.