San Antonio residents have spoken, handing the city a record-breaking endorsement of its services. An article released by the City of San Antonio details the 2024 Community Satisfaction & Budget Priority Survey, revealing an overall satisfaction rating of 87 percent, the highest the city has ever achieved. This marks a significant climb from the 74 percent rating in 2022 and is a massive jump from the 64 percent satisfaction in 2018. City Manager Erik Walsh expressed gratitude towards the workforce, noting, “Customer service remains our focus, and the survey data will help us determine community priorities to invest our efforts and resources in the upcoming fiscal year budget. I would like to thank our more than 13,000 City employees who are deeply committed to our customers, our City residents.”
The survey, which was constructed by ETC Institute, Inc., intends to be a gauge of public opinion, involving over 1,000 randomly selected residents. A minimum of 100 residents were questioned in each of the 10 Council districts, ensuring representation across various demographics, as stated in the City of San Antonio's news release. The CEO of ETC Institute, Chris Tatham, highlighted the correlation between the city's targeted investments and improved public works services, which significantly leaped in satisfaction from 54 to 78 percent in two years. Tatham said, "The results of the survey show that the City is investing in services that are important to its residents."
As it turns out, the City of San Antonio isn't just ahead of the curve locally but is outstripping national averages in several key areas. Customer service satisfaction hit a high 88 percent in San Antonio, in stark contrast to the national average parked at 32 percent. Derived from a pool of people representative of the broader community, the overall City services satisfaction in San City is towering at 87 percent, while the rest of the nation lags behind at 41 percent. Notably, San Antonio stands first among Texas's major cities in most surveyed categories.
Outlining the top initiatives for the Fiscal Year 2025 budget, infrastructure, and homelessness concerns took the lead, underscoring streets and homelessness assistance as critical investment areas. In addition to the numerical data presented, the survey serves a dual purpose. As well as collecting residents' satisfaction levels, it aids city leaders in pinpointing investment priorities and monitoring progress since the previous community survey in 2022. On top of this, the satisfaction survey was reported by the article to perform significantly better than national averages—SASpeakUp.com/SABudget2025 hosts the full survey results for those interested.
