City Council
Staff Report
From: City Manager
Report Type: STUDY SESSION
Lead Department: City Manager
Meeting Date: January 20, 2026
Report #:2601-5805
TITLE
Presentation of the 2025 Annual Community Survey Results. CEQA Status -- Not a project.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council receive the Report of Results for the 2025 City of Palo Alto Community Survey by Polco/National Research Center, Inc (Polco).
BACKGROUND
Since 2003, the City has annually or biennially conducted a community survey to gain insights into residents’ perspectives about the community, including local amenities, services, public trust, resident participation, and other aspects of the community. Survey information is used to support budgeting, land use and strategic planning, and communication efforts with the community. This report summarizes the latest survey conducted starting August 1, 2025 through October 3, 2025.
ANALYSIS
The City takes pride in delivering outstanding programs and services to the community. An essential gauge of community satisfaction is through polling. The data obtained from these surveys serves as a valuable reference point for setting City Council priorities. City staff utilizes this information to assess programs, services and shaping performance metrics during the annual budget process.
The National Community Survey is one of several methods employed to engage the community and evaluate the perceived quality of City services. Similar to last year's response rate of 16%, this year’s total responses were 574 (585 received in 2024). While historically responses have hovered around 750, or about 23%, this year's response rate similar to last years, although lower than average history, remains statistically significant. It also aligns with the typical range observed in other jurisdictions, which falls between a 12% to 20% response rate. Responses were statistically weighed to ensure representativeness of Palo alto’s demographic makeup.
A few highlights in the Key Findings section based on respondent perspectives of the report are provided below, as well as a summary of notable circumstances that may have affected the results.
Palo Alto residents continue to rate their quality of life highly. Again, 88% of residents or approximately 9 of 10 residents rated Palo Alto, as well as their own neighborhood—as an excellent or good place to live. Similarly, 9 in 10 gave high marks to the overall quality of life in the city, while about 8 in 10 praised Palo Alto as a place to work and raise children. These results were consistent with previous years and in line with national benchmarks, except for Palo Alto’s rating as a place to work, which was again higher than the national average.
About 7 in 10 residents gave high marks to the city as a place to visit, and more than half rated Palo Alto as an excellent or good place to retire. Both ratings were like those from previous years and aligned with the national benchmarks. About 8 in 10 residents, indicated that they were likely to remain in Palo Alto for the next five years, slightly up from the prior year, and would recommend living in the city to someone who asked.
While residents were very satisfied with many City services, there are areas for improvement.
No service was below the national benchmark.
The City continues to maintain top-rated services, with the following seven higher than national benchmarks: City parks, open space, drinking water, utility payment options, recreation programs and classes, recreation centers and facilities, and preservation of natural areas. These ratings were generally on par or above prior year levels. Overall, 33 services received ratings consistent with 2024, while two services improved:
affordable high-speed internet access (54%, up 10 points from 2024) and electric utility services (75%, up 8 points).
Compared to national benchmarks, eight services were rated above the national average (Palo Alto open space, City parks, preservation of natural areas, drinking water, utility payment options, street cleaning, recreation centers/facilities, and recreation programs/classes), 15 services were on par, and none were below national benchmarks. Several community features received high marks from residents, including ease of walking, ease of travel by bicycle, the overall image and reputation of Palo Alto, fitness and recreational opportunities (such as exercise classes and trails), and the quality of business and service establishments. Positive ratings for these features ranged from 78% to 83%. The perceived quality of business and service establishments increased by 7 points since 2024, rising from 71% to 78%. Among the lower-rated services were building and planning application processing, land use, planning, and zoning, and code enforcement (e.g., weeds or abandoned buildings). However, these showed improvements from prior year levels.
Several process improvements have been executed or remain underway to help address the low ratings including enhanced customer service training for all planning, building, and support staff, aiming to improve responsiveness and efficiency in application handling, as well as providing greater clarity in approval requirements.
Housing Affordability and cost of living remain key concerns As in previous years, fewer than 1 in 10 residents gave positive ratings to the cost of living in Palo Alto, and only about 1 in 10 rated the availability of affordable quality housing favorably. Meanwhile, about 1 in 4 residents gave positive ratings to the variety of housing options. All three ratings were similar to those in 2024. Compared to national benchmarks, Palo Alto’s rating for cost of living was much lower, while ratings for affordable quality housing and variety of housing options were lower than national averages. The survey included an open-ended question inviting respondents to describe, in their own words, one change the City could make to increase resident satisfaction. The most common theme was housing and construction issues (mentioned by 21% of respondents), followed by transportation and traffic (13%), and affordability (10%).
Parks, open space, and the natural environment stand out as Palo Alto’s greatest strengths. The survey included an open-ended question inviting respondents to share, in their own words, one thing they believe the City does well and should continue to maintain. Open space and the natural environment topped the list, accounting for 28% of all mentions, followed by activities and recreation (14%), and utility and city services (11%). When asked about a list of activities they had done in the past 12 months, visiting a neighborhood or City park ranked highest, with 95% of respondents reporting they had done so. Other frequently reported activities included talking with immediate neighbors, walking or biking instead of driving, voting in the most recent local election, and using Palo Alto public libraries or their services.
Residents report limited awareness of sustainability programs. About 1 in 7 residents said they are extremely or very familiar with Palo Alto’s programs to advance community goals, such as home electrification. About 1 in 20 residents reported being extremely or very familiar with the City’s Sustainability and Climate Action Plan(S/CAP) and its goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2030. When asked what would most motivate them to replace major gas appliances with electric models, the top consideration was saving money through rebates (59%), followed by improving health and safety (37%), and helping to stop climate change (35%). About 3 in 10 residents said they were not interested in upgrading to electric.
Ratings for Palo Alto government performance remain strong with some improvements. • Three-quarters of Palo Alto residents gave the local government high marks for treating residents with respect, while about 6 in 10 praised it for being honest, treating all residents fairly, acting in the best interest of the community, and being open and transparent with the public. The remaining five performance attributes also received satisfaction ratings above 50%.
• When compared to 2024, most government performance indicators were rated similarly, except for acting in the best interest of the community and being open and transparent with the public, both of which increased from 53% in 2024 to 60% in 2025. Palo Alto’s ratings were comparable to national benchmarks across all indicators.
Overall, 78% of respondents praised the quality of services provided by the City of Palo Alto, consistent with previous years. In contrast, state government services received a favorable rating of 52% (similar to last year), while federal government services received a favorable rating of just 19%, 22 points lower than in 2024.
The attached report includes information on trends over time, geographic and demographic comparisons, national benchmark comparisons, and verbatim responses to open-ended questions.
FISCAL/RESOURCE IMPACT
Funding for the Polco contract was approved in FY 2026 budget. No additional funding is requested at this time.
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
The 2025 Palo Alto Community Survey process is a community engagement tool that helps the City Council and City staff understand community perspectives on current services and programs, as well as priorities. Staff continues to implement the existing community engagement and Council priority workplans.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This item is not a project as defined by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because Community Survey results are presented for informational purposes only with no action required by the Council.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A: 2025 Community Survey Report
APPROVED BY:
Ed Shikada, City Manager