New analysis of data collected by the Center for Marketing and Opinion Research (CMOR) earlier this year found that Akron residents are less satisfied with Summit County as a place to live than their neighbors in surrounding suburbs.
This is the first time CMOR has drilled down to look specifically at responses from Akron residents according to principal and cofounder Amanda Barna.
“I would say that you know it was a little disheartening to see that this was the lowest positive rating of the county as a place to live," Barna said.
51% of Akron residents rated Summit County as an excellent or good place to live, compared to 74% of suburban residents.
"I think another thing that surprised me was that more than a quarter of residents said that they'd be likely to move in the next few years - move outside of the county," Barna said.
Those more likely to move include younger residents and people making less than $25,000 a year.
"The lower the income the more likely they were to say that they were likely to move," Barna said, "and in terms of age, younger residents were much more likely than older residents."
Akron residents are also more concerned about crime and safety. 28% of Akron residents named crime and safety concerns as the most important problem facing Summit County.
Favorable ratings of job opportunities in Summit County jumped to an all-time high of 49% by Akron residents. However, only 28% of residents rated the economy favorably, down from 38% in 2020, and just 27% of Akronites reported being better off financially than a few years ago, the lowest percentage since 2011.
"The concerns specifically about employment was low," Barna said. "It's more about other economic issues, such as the cost of living and inflation."
These trends are not unique to Akron, said Barna.
“You know this is not a problem that’s specific to the city of Akron," Barna said. "When we looked at the other geographies, it was the lowest positive rating for Summit County resident as a whole, so that includes suburban residents. And then also in Stark County we saw a very similar trend.”
CMOR traditionally releases community pulse reports for Summit and Stark counties. This is the first time they released analysis of that data focusing on one city. Barna said the other polls have been useful to community leaders, so they thought analysis just about Akron would help the community.
