Sioux Falls residents show some overall decline in perception of city

Almost across the board, Sioux Falls residents don’t appear to be feeling as positive about the city as they did two years ago.

Several key metrics measured in the National Community Survey, which is conducted every other year, fell in comparison to 2023 and 2021.

The survey was mailed to 3,000 randomly selected households  in September with a 12 percent response versus 18 percent in 2023. The survey is conducted to achieve a statistically significant result and a 5 margin of error.

An open participation survey drew 825 responses, but the results weren’t included in the statistical analysis.

Results are benchmarked against more than 500 other communities and are centered around these key areas:

• Community design
• Economy
• Mobility
• Parks and recreation
• Utilities
• Safety
• Inclusivity and engagement
• Natural environment
• Education, arts and culture
• Health and wellness

“These facets have bene identified through extensive survey research as those are the most impactful to residents’ quality of life,” said Jody Moss, City Council budget analyst, adding that they’re chosen “to provide the full picture of how residents feel about their community.”

Big picture, here’s how Sioux Falls residents weighed in on what areas are most important to them as well as how they think the city fares in them:

One larger gap is safety — where residents ranked it at 92 percent importance but 65 percent quality. The natural environment fared better with 77 percent importance and 73 percent quality.

“Balancing quality and importance is significant,” Moss said.

Community strengths

The survey analysis identifies the following strengths for Sioux Falls:

• Residents continue to value the city’s parks and recreation amenities.
• Community members feel safe across Sioux Falls.
• Business and commercial activity stand out as key assets.

City parks received excellent or good reviews from almost nine in 10 residents, while 87 percent valued the availability of paths and walking trails.

“While roughly seven in 10 residents positively reviewed the community’s fitness/recreational opportunities, programs and facilities, these measures experienced significant declines since 2023,” the report said.

About nine in 10 residents said they felt safe in their neighborhood during the day while eight in 10 felt safe in the downtown or commercial areas during the day.

About eight in 10 residents positively rated the overall quality of business and service establishments.

“Over half of community members value the city’s well-planned commercial growth, a rating higher than the national benchmark,” the report said.

Sioux Falls’ variety of business establishments was rated higher than the national benchmark: 72 percent. About three-quarters positively rated the vibrancy of downtown/commercial areas — 76 percent — also higher than benchmark communities.

” While several of these items were higher than the national benchmark and highly regarded overall, some experienced a significant decrease from 2023 results,” the report said.

Areas for improvement 

The following were identified as focus areas for improvement:

• Affordability and housing.
• Mobility and transportation.
• Key inclusivity measures, which have declined since 2023.

“About two in 10 residents gave positive marks to availability of affordable quality housing, although this is similar to national ratings,” the report said, adding about half were satisfied with the variety of housing options.

“Only about a quarter of community members rated the availability of affordable quality child care/preschool as excellent or good, lower than the national benchmark.”

Availability of affordable quality mental health care is another area of opportunity, with 46 percent of residents rating it positively — similar to the national ratings.

“Mobility and transportation results may indicate room for growth,” the report continued. “Only about half positively rated the overall transportation system — 48 percent — a significant decline from 2023. Positive ratings for ease of public transportation use dropped from 29 percent in 2023 to 20 percent in 2025.”

Several measures of inclusivity dropped, including the perception that Sioux Falls is a place that makes all residents feel welcome. In 2023, almost three in four people agreed with that; it dropped to 63 percent this year.

Moving the needle

These are the areas that saw the biggest change in perception from 2023:

Increases

• Street repair, up 7 percent.
• Affordable high-speed internet access, up 7 percent.

Decreases

• Overall health and wellness opportunities in Sioux Falls, down 14 percent.
• Recreation programs or classes, down 14 percent.
• Local government treating residents with respect, down 13 percent.

Custom questions

The city of Sioux Falls also was able to ask specific questions of survey respondents.

Fifty-eight percent say they support using existing tax revenue to build a community pool on the south side of Sioux Falls.

Seventy-two percent say they support using city tax dollars to make improvements to the Sioux Falls Regional Airport.

Fifty-two percent say they support allowing homes to be rented as short-term rentals such as Airbnb or VRBO.

Seventy-two percent say the city should continue investing in green space within street medians.

Seventy-three percent say they support prioritizing taxpayer resources to attract new industries and support economic development.

More than half – 54 percent – oppose allowing residents to leave garbage containers in the public right of way.

Sixty-three percent oppose reducing the number of licenses available to garbage haulers over time.

Seven in 10 say tax dollars should be used to make child care affordable.

And there was “strong support” for investment in homelessness services, Moss said.

“About eight in 10 agreed with funding partner organizations to provide services in the community, and a similar share supported funding city staff to expand supportive services, approximately at 76 percent.”

“A couple of these results didn’t surprise me at all, but a couple just really shocked me,” City Councilor Jennifer Sigette said.

“The biggest one that shocked me was the child care. … There was some traction on this about a year ago, and we just didn’t feel the support to continue to try to get a project up and running to help make child care more affordable for families. And yet this says 70 percent of the people think that city taxpayer dollars should go at least to help low-income families, which is what we were targeting, so this makes me think that maybe we need to bring that project up and work on it again.”

To view the full survey results, visit here.