Quality of Life Survey

2024 Survey Announcement

At this time, the Pensacola Young Professionals will not be releasing a 2024 Quality of Life Survey. We have chosen to take this year to understand how the survey is being used and valued by the community. Please complete this brief four question survey to help us better understand how the Quality of Life Survey is being utilized. If you have any questions, please reach out to Claire Kirchharr at qualityoflife@pensacolayp.com

Quality of Life Usage Questionnaire

Overview

The mission of the Pensacola Young Professionals (PYP) is to act as a catalyst for positive change in our community. We empower young professionals to make a difference by offering a platform for them to become active participants in the economic development, community development, local governmental affairs, and charitable organizations in our community. PYP recognizes the value of community surveys for assessing citizens’ concerns and providing guidance for our local leaders. It is our hope that by presenting this yearly survey, we can foster discussion and stimulate change that will improve both the perception and the reality of Pensacola and Escambia County as the premier place to live, work, and play.

Since 2008, the Quality of Life Survey has provided insight into how our citizens view our community. As catalysts for positive change in the Pensacola Bay Area, the Pensacola Young Professionals are hopeful that the annual results of this survey will be a useful measurement and tool that will allow Escambia County residents to have a voice and will offer data to local leaders and policymakers seeking to affect change for the benefit of the entire community. By measuring public opinion in an annual survey and collecting data for comparison, we are able to provide material that generates informed debate and inspires necessary action. For over a decade, Escambia County voters have been asked their opinions on a number of key issues, with the results presented in the annual Quality of Life Report. Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, an independent polling firm that conducts public policy and political polling research nationwide, carried out the 2020 Annual Quality of Life Survey of Escambia County on behalf of Pensacola Young Professionals (PYP). While many of the questions we ask in the survey have remained the same, this year we also directed some questions to our local area’s race-relations. If you’d like to get involved or hear more information, please reach out to us at info@pensacolayp.com.

Dashboard

New for 2023, PYP has developed an interactive dashboard to slice and compare data over years and demographics. This dashboard is best viewed on a desktop computer. A mobile friendly version is in development.

🔗 View the Dashboard

2023 Survey Results

Quality of Life Dashboard (Desktop Only)

• Mobile Use: QOL Static Dashboard 2023.1.5 (PDF)

2023 CivicCon Presentation

2023 Quality of Life Raw Data

What is the Quality of Life Survey?

Quality of Life survey is an independent survey tool that was developed by Mason-Dixon. They study communities around the country and came up with the categories and characteristics that people perceive as having the most impact on the quality of life.

Quality of life is defined as an individual’s perception of their position in life in the context of the culture, community, and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards, and concerns.

The survey includes standardized batteries of questions concerning the factors that contribute to and define the quality of life in the community—economic conditions, job security, educational opportunities, availability of cultural displays and entertainment, safety, clean and healthy environment, a sense of community and welcoming, a shared vision and understanding of future plans for community and economic development, and effective, competent government and community leadership that plans and executes.

Participants that are interviewed are randomly selected from commercially available phone-matched voter registration lists that included both landline and cell phone numbers. Quotas were assigned to reflect voter registration of the jurisdiction being surveyed.

The number of residents surveyed accurately represent the actual demographic breakdown of a community; i.e., the ratios of the respondents’ gender, race, age, political affiliation, and area of residence mirror the county’s real statistics.

About The Survey

Quint and Rishy Studer: Seeking to provide benchmarks of public opinion and track voter concerns and issues of importance to our community, the Studers were instrumental in establishing the Better Pensacola Forum and its Quality of Life Survey in 2008. The Studers continue to fund the Quality of Life Survey each year, but have no control over its content or the presentation of its results.

How Valid is the Survey and Results?

The 800 Escambia County residents surveyed accurately represent the demographic breakdown of our community; i.e., the ratios of the respondents’ gender, race, age, political affiliation, and area of residence mirror the county’s real statistics. Also, the high number of respondents provides a strong degree of confidence in the results; according to Mason-Dixon Polling: “The margin for error, according to standards customarily used by statisticians, is no more than plus or minus 3.5-percentage points.” This means there is a 95% probability that the ‘true’ figure would fall within that range if the entire population were sampled.

How Are survey Questions Chosen?

The overwhelming majority of the survey’s questions were established in 2008, when the original Better Pensacola Forum committee collaborated with Mason-Dixon Polling to identify metrics that would assess our citizens’ opinions regarding the City of Pensacola and Escambia County. Those original questions have remained unchanged since 2008. In 2011, a question was added to assess the job performance of Pensacola’s new “strong mayor,” and in 2014 questions were added to assess the job performance of other elected officials. PYP decides on a small number of new questions to add each year to assess timely or topical issues.

Mason Dixon Poling & Research

Mason-Dixon, based in Washington, DC, is a highly-respected independent polling firm that conducts public policy and political polling research. Mason-Dixon has conducted all eleven years of polling for the Quality of Life Survey.

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