2022 National Community Survey

Over the years the City of El Cerrito has participated in the National Community Survey (NCS) several times, including in 2003, 2005, 2007, 2012, 2016, 2019, and most recently in 2022. The NCS provides important feedback to the City, capturing residents’ opinions around various facets of the community, ranging from parks and recreation to safety or the quality of utilities. Moreover, because similar surveys have been conducted in over 500 communities, the survey results provide important insights as the results can both be benchmarked against other communities and analyzed for changes in resident opinions in El Cerrito over time.

The Report of Results for 2022 is now available. The report provides the opinions of a representative sample of 463 residents of the City of El Cerrito collected from November 30th, 2022 to January 11th, 2023. Survey results were weighted so that the demographic profile of respondents was representative of the demographic profile of adults in El Cerrito.

Highlights from the report include:

• Quality of Life – Residents rating of quality of life in El Cerrito is at 87% the highest rating of all the years the City has done the survey
• Library – 75% rated building a new Library at the El Cerrito Plaza BART development as a Medium Priority or High Priority, the highest of any of the potential facilities mentioned
• Safety – 92% feel very or somewhat safe in their neighborhood during the day
  - Only 52% felt very safe or somewhat safe from property crime
  - 8 in 10 residents gave excellent or good ratings to the El Cerrito Police Department for treating all residents fairly, enforcing the law, and using appropriate force
• Recycling – 90% rated recycling services as excellent or good, much higher than the national benchmark
• El Cerrito, as a community, has room for improvement to receive more positive ratings around community economic health (as a place to work or visit, the vibrancy of downtown, cost of living, affordability, etc.)
• Residents rated Parks (90%), Public Safety (88%), Open Space & Trails (84%), and Library (84%), as the highest community priorities for the next two years.

Importantly, this data will be used to feed into the Strategic Planning process that is beginning in April 2023 and will support the City in refining strategic goals and setting the City’s short-term and long-term priorities to inform the City’s budget and workplan.

At the April 4, 2023, City Council meeting, a summary of these results was presented with key findings to the City Council. 

For more information about the Community Survey results, please contact Assistant to the City Manager, Will Provost, at wprovost@ci.el-cerrito.ca.us.

Previous Results

2022 Report of Results (PDF); Presentation of Results to City Council April 4, 2023 (PDF)

2019 Summary Report (PDF)

2016 Summary Report (PDF)

2012 Summary Report (PDF)

2007 Summary Report (PDF)

2005 Summary Report (PDF)

2004 Summary Report (PDF)