In 2011, 2016, and 2022 the City contracted with Cobalt Community Research to conduct a random sample survey of Oak Creek residents to gauge opinions on a variety of topics including City services, budgeting priorities, the future of City facilities, and transportation infrastructure.

2022 City of Oak Creek Resident Engagement and Priority Assessment

The goals of the 2022 study were to aid the City in budgeting and strategic planning decisions, measure performance and compare it statewide, regionally, and nationally, and to determine residents opinions on which City services have priority when making tough budget choices.

The 2022 survey was developed from a random sample of 1,750 residents taken from voter records. There were two survey mailings to increase the rate of response. These were sent out in January and March 2022. There was a response from approximately 389 residents, resulting in a 95 percent confidence rate and a +/- 4.9 margin of error.

Approximately 146 people who were not part of the random sample also responded to the survey, bringing the total response to 535.  Non-sample responses were not included in the summary data, but are included as a row in the crosstabulations for comparison.

On May 3, 2022 Cobalt Community Research presented the survey findings to the Common Council. The presentation and survey results can be found below.

2016 City of Oak Creek Citizen Engagement and Priority Assessment

The goals of the 2016 study were to aid the City in budgeting and strategic planning decisions, and to determine our residents’ opinions on which City services should have priority. With significant decisions ahead for our City leadership, it was important to measure and understand the City's current performance and compare it statewide, regionally, and nationally, as well as against the benchmark data from the 2011 survey.

The survey was developed from a random sample of 1,500 residents taken from voter records. There were two survey mailings to increase the rate of response. These were sent out in April and May 2016. The response rate for the random sample was 29 percent (440 surveys returned). Additionally, there were 138 volunteer responses. In total, this results in a margin of error of +/- 4.0 at a 95 percent confidence interval. The summary report includes aggregated sample and volunteer responses.

On June 21, 2016, Cobalt Community Research presented the survey findings to the Common Council. The presentation and survey results can be found below.

2011 City of Oak Creek Resident Engagement and Priority Assessment

The goals of the 2011 study were to aid the City in budgeting and strategic planning decisions, measure performance and compare it statewide, regionally, and nationally, and to determine residents opinions on which City services have priority when making tough budget choices.

The 2011 survey was developed from a random sample of 1,500 residents taken from voter records. There were two survey mailings to increase the rate of response. These were sent out in November and December 2011. There was a response rate 35 percent (533 surveys returned) resulting in a 95 percent confidence rate and a +/- 4.2 margin of error.

On January 17, 2012 Cobalt Community Research presented the survey findings to the Common Council. The presentation and survey results can be found below.