97% of Johnson County residents are satisfied with the county as a place to live
Residents of Johnson County again reported high satisfaction with the county’s quality of life, services and programs, according to the 2024 community survey. ETC Institute presented the results to the Board of County Commissioners on March 21.
Overall satisfaction with Johnson County as place to live, work and raise children is among the highest in the nation. Nearly all (97%) of residents surveyed said they viewed the county as a good or excellent place to live. A similar amount (96%) considered the county as a good or excellent place to raise children.
93% of residents reported an overall feeling of safety in Johnson County. That reflects a 3% increase over 2023 and compares to the national average of 66%.
Satisfaction with county services increased in 18 of the 25 categories asked about in the survey, and overall satisfaction with Johnson County’s services came in 31% above the national average.
“Johnson County is setting the standard for service delivery in most of the areas we surveyed,” Chris Tatham, president and chief executive officer of ETC, said. “We are seeing some already high-ranking results edge even higher.”
Satisfaction with quality of life in the county
As in previous surveys, Tatham shared the 2024 survey results in comparison to U.S. averages.
|
Question |
Johnson Countians answering satisfied or very satisfied |
Average % of U.S. residents satisfied or very satisfied |
|
Satisfaction as a place to live |
97% |
49% |
|
Satisfaction as place to raise children |
96% |
61% |
|
Overall feeling of community safety |
93% |
66% |
|
Satisfaction as a place to work |
88% |
57% |
|
Satisfaction as a place to retire |
68% |
52% |
“These survey results are exceptional, and Johnson County should be proud of them,” said Johnson County Board of County Commissioners Chairman Mike Kelly. “We appreciate having this feedback from our residents, and we particularly appreciate the hard work of our dedicated and talented staff whose work leads to results like we’re seeing today.”
Top priorities for county residents
When asked what they think is most important for the county to provide, respondents picked these top five choices:
- Emergency medical, including MED-ACT’s response to medical emergencies
- The county’s Park and Recreation district
- Emergency preparedness, including NotifyJoCo
- The county’s library system
- The Sheriff’s Office
Areas of opportunities for extra emphasis included services provided by the Sheriff’s Office, the Johnson County Mental Health Center and Aging and Human Services, the same three areas noted for emphasis last year. The survey identified mental health services, aging and human services and motor vehicles as the categories worthy of additional attention back in 2020.
“We listen to what residents tell us in these important annual surveys,” said County Manager Penny Postoak Ferguson. “We provide important services and programs with finite funds, so we strive to serve our residents’ priorities while being good stewards of taxpayer dollars.”
The survey also asked how important it was for Johnson County to provide safety-net services for low-income individuals and families, and 63% thought it was either important or very important, consistent with last year’s response of 64% for the same categories. It might not be surprising, then, to discover that access to health and human services was the top choice selected when respondents were asked to pick Johnson County’s critical roles for the next 10 to 20 years.
ETC distributed the survey to 1,000 randomly selected households from each district. The survey was administered by mail, phone and online. 1,272 respondents completed the survey, resulting in a 95% confidence level for the survey findings. View full results of the 2024 community survey.