Quality of Life Index
Community stewardship is at the heart of the Thurston Chamber’s mission. For 150 years, your Chamber has consistently asked: “how are we doing as a community? We have an insatiable curiosity to better understand our region’s strengths, challenges, and opportunities.
This summer, the Thurston Chamber of Commerce conducted a public opinion survey to assess residents' attitudes about living in Thurston County. Our objective was to explore residents’ evaluation of various aspects of life in the county and to establish a baseline for potential future research.
A total of 500 residents, selected at random from the list of registered voters in the county, were interviewed by telephone and online between June 18-24, 2024. Survey respondents were asked to assess various aspects of life in Thurston County by giving letter grades “like they do in school.”
The survey was designed, administered, and analyzed by Elway Research. The questionnaire was designed in collaboration with Thurston County Chamber and consultants. The survey was designed to achieve a margin of error of ±4.5% at the 95% confidence interval. This means, in theory, had this same survey been repeated 100 times the results would be expected to be within ±4.5% of these results at least 95 times.
In this survey, the Thurston region received a “C+” grade when asked, “overall how would you rate Thurston County as a place to live?”. This “C+” grade indicates a general expression of satisfaction but with plenty of room to improve as a community. Overall, the survey findings present a picture of a population aware of significant challenges in the community but generally satisfied and optimistic about the future.
The Thurston Chamber’s “Quality of Life” survey is a resource for the community. We envision using the survey results to drive community discussion and debate; provide a measure of our progress and success; and help hold ourselves accountable for achieving the community we aspire to become and sustain. Please dive deeper into the survey and join us in future discussions and debates as we pursue our shared aspirations for our community.