The City of Milton ranks No. 1 out of 385 local governments in how citizens feel about the service provided by municipal employees – one of several jaw-droppingly positive results from its recently conducted National Community Survey.

The National Community Survey (NCS) is considered the gold standard when it comes to determining the sentiments of people in a defined area about aspects of where they live, as well as the governments that serve them. With it, Milton can be compared to other places big and small across the country, as well as to how its own residents’ views have changed for better or worse over time.

To access Milton’s full results, click through the tabs found at this link: https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/polco.nrc/viz/TheNCSReport-MiltonGA2024/BenchmarksNational.

And to view an in-depth presentation with highlights, click HERE: https://www.miltonga.gov/home/showdocument?id=7669. Those include:

This spring, the City’s independent partners at Polco distributed invitations in two mailings to 3,800 representative households – which is 1,000 more than for Milton’s 2022 edition – asking one family member apiece to participate. The 458 surveys completed (all online) equated to a margin of error/confidence interval of plus or minus 4.6 percent, which was better than the 2022 rate of 5 percent. Of the respondents, 48% lived with children under 17, 82% owned their homes, 65% had been in Milton for between 2-to-10 years, and 45% were between 44 to 64 years old.

For standardized questions, people had four options with the top two (with wording such as excellent/good or strongly/somewhat support) together indicating a “positive” response while the other two alternatives (such as fair/poor or somewhat/strongly oppose) showing the opposite. Results are compared to those from other cities based on percentile (so 75^th percentile means the top 25%) and rank (relative to other places whose citizens answered the exact same question), as well as how Milton residents in 2022 responded.

Some of the queries pertained to life overall, with Milton scoring extremely highly – even relative to an outstanding 2022 showing in this regard. Highlights included:

• Ranking 7^th out of 441 in “quality of life,” putting Milton in the top 2 percent
• Ranking 3^rd out of 390 as a “place to live,” good for the 99^th percentile
• Ranking 2^nd out of 356 in “cleanliness,” also in the top 1 percent
• Third out of 359 in “overall appearance,” similarly working out to the 99^th percentile
• No. 1 overall (out of 336) for the “economic health” of a community
• Ranking 2^nd out of 383 in “image/reputation,” again in the highest 1 percent
• A jump of 19 percentiles (to 99th) in the “recommend living here” category

As impressive as those findings are, results – and increases – were even more significant in questions related to municipal governance. For example, Milton:

• Ranked 4^th out of 324 – up 14 percentiles – when it comes to the City of Milton government “being honest”
• Also ranked 4^th (this time out of 282) – a 16 percentile jump – in being “open and transparent”
• Finished in the 98^th percentile, with major increases since 2022, when it came to both “confidence in City government” and “value of services for taxes paid”
• Ranked 2^nd out of 330 when it came to “treating all residents fairly,” putting Milton in the 99^th percentile (which is 19 higher than two years ago)
• Rose 22 percentiles, to the 96^th, when it came to “informing residents about issues”
• Also finished in the 96^th percentile or higher, after major increases from 2022, when it comes to “quality of services provided,” “acting in the community’s best interests,” “direction Milton is taking,” and “welcomes residents’ involvement”

One question asked people to describe the “overall customer service by Milton employees” – a group that all who work for the City from firefighters to receptionists to planners to police officers. Milton residents’ responses were first out of 385 comparable communities.

“This survey makes official what many of us have known for a long time: The City of Milton has the best public servants, anywhere,” said Mayor Peyton Jamison. “We’re also fortunate to have an amazing community who listens, respects, and works with us for the good of all of Milton.”

People had opportunities to weigh in on more specific categories as well. In most every one (except ease of travel by bicycle, ease of travel by public transportation, and ease of walking), Milton compared extremely favorably to other cities. Not only that, but the 2024 responses also were more favorable than what Milton residents’ felt two years ago.

Milton scored particularly high on public safety measures, including in the 98^th percentile for “quality of fire services” and 99^th for “quality of police services.” Other standout results:

• Ranking 5^th out of 279 – good for the 98^th percentile – in “well-designed neighborhoods”
• Well-planned commercial growth and residential growth were in the 91^st and 96^th percentiles, respectively
• A 5% increase since 2022 in people’s impression of “traffic flow on major streets,” where Milton was in the 72^nd percentile
• Double-digit increases in parks and recreation categories like “availability of paths and walking trails,” “recreational opportunities,” “fitness opportunities,” “quality of City parks,” and “quality of recreational programs”

The 2024 survey also featured unique questions in which people shared their opinions on options for handling recycling and trash, whether greenspaces should be open or closed, if public investment is warranted in specific character areas,  and where to spend parks and recreation-related funds.

Milton’s NCS ended with an open question in which people shared what they thought was our community’s biggest challenge and opportunity. Responsible growth/retaining a small-town feel and traffic congestion/infrastructure both got similarly high support  (23% and 21%, respectively), while sizable numbers also touched on parks and recreation additions, cost of living, and sustainability.

“We’re extremely proud of and, at the same time, humbled by these survey results,” City Manager Steve Krokoff said. “We are committed to continue providing outstanding service and partnering with the people of Milton to make this city even better.”