About The National Community Survey™
The National Community Survey™ (NCS) is a standardized poll developed by the National Research Center (NRC) at Polco and has been administered in Bloomington every year since 2012. The purpose of the survey is to understand our community strengths and where we can dedicate efforts to improve.
The survey’s statistically valid approach relies on the random selection of residents to respond to questions assessing quality of life and community satisfaction in Bloomington. Three weeks before the survey closes, a survey link is published on this page for Bloomington residents to complete. This “open participation” survey is reported separately from the statistically valid report.
2026 survey timeline
- June 17: Postcard notices are mailed to randomly selected residents. Print surveys are mailed one week later with prepaid postage to mail the survey back. All materials include a QR code to for residents who prefer to complete the survey online.
- July 22: The online survey opens to the public. Residents not selected randomly for the statistically valid survey have the option to participate. These responses are reported separately to preserve the integrity of the statistically valid survey.
- August 12: The survey closes. One week before the close-date, text message reminders are sent to the randomly selected residents who have not completed their survey.
- September 9: The statistically valid survey report and open participation survey report are provided to City.
2025 survey results
About the National Research Center at Polco
NRC is best known for our national benchmarking surveys, such as The National Community Survey™ and custom survey research. This benchmark database holds hundreds of thousands of resident opinions – making it the largest of its kind in the United States.
