What is the Overall Liveability Index and how is it calculated?

The Overall Liveability Index (OLI) is a single score out of 100 that summarises liveability by combining what residents value most with how they experience those attributes in their local area. It's calculated from two measures collected in the Community Views survey, where respondents are asked to select which five out of 16 liveability attributes they consider most important in making somewhere a good place to live and rate their local area on each one. This article explains exactly how the score is built and what it can and can't tell you, which is important when using the score to support advocacy or inform local area decision-making.

Key concepts

The two measures behind the index

The Community Views survey asks respondents two things about the 16 liveability attributes, which cover areas such as housing affordability, safety, transport and community connection.

First, the importance measure: respondents select the five attributes that matter most to them in making somewhere a good place to live, and the survey reports the percentage of respondents who nominated each attribute in their top five.

Second, the experience measure: respondents rate their local area on each attribute on a 0 to 10 scale, and the survey reports the mean score for each attribute.

The OLI brings these two measures together, giving greater weight to experiences of the attributes that residents collectively consider most important.

How the score is calculated

For each of the 16 attributes, the importance percentage is multiplied by the average experience score. The results are summed across all 16 attributes, and the total is multiplied by two to give a score out of 100 for the area being measured.

What can cause the OLI to change?

Because the OLI combines importance and experience, a change in the index can reflect a change in residents' priorities, a change in their experiences of the local area, or a combination of both.

For this reason, the OLI is most useful when considered alongside the underlying importance and experience results. These can help explain which attributes may be contributing to movement in the overall score and whether residents' priorities, experiences or both have changed.

Comparing the index across waves

The index is designed to be comparable across survey waves, provided the core methodology, questions and scoring approach stay consistent. Tracking it over time shows whether overall liveability, as measured through the combination of residents' priorities and experiences, has increased, decreased or remained relatively stable. Looking at the underlying importance and experience results can help explain what is contributing to that movement.

Comparing the index across places

The index can also provide a useful benchmark between places, because it's derived from a consistent set of attributes and a common scoring method. Places differ in their population, geography, development pattern, housing market, transport options, socio-economic conditions and access to services, and those structural differences can influence both what residents prioritise and how they rate their experiences. A lower or higher index doesn't, by itself, mean one organisation is doing a better or worse job than another. Comparisons between places should therefore be interpreted in the context of these local differences.

Where to find the index in Community Views

On the Community Views platform, the Values & Experiences topic presents your study area's Overall Liveability Index as a score out of 100 alongside benchmark comparators, and the index is calculated for each local area as well as for the study area overall. The topic's values and experiences matrix plots each attribute's importance against residents' experience of it. Looking at the two measures together can help identify attributes that are both highly important and experienced positively, highlighting areas of strength, as well as highly important attributes that are experienced less positively and may warrant greater attention.

Frequently asked questions

Q: How exactly is the score out of 100 worked out?

A: For each of the 16 attributes, the percentage of respondents who put it in their top five is multiplied by its average experience score (0 to 10). Those 16 results are added together and the total is multiplied by two, giving a score out of 100. The calculation uses the aggregate importance and experience result for each attribute.

Q: If most people don't pick an attribute in their top five, does that count against it?

A: Not in the sense of receiving a negative rating. An attribute that a respondent doesn't select simply receives no importance selection from that person. At the aggregate level, attributes selected by a greater proportion of respondents receive greater weight in the OLI calculation.

Q: What can cause our Overall Liveability Index to change?

A: The OLI can change because residents' priorities have changed, their experiences of the local area have changed, or both. Looking at the underlying importance and experience results can help you understand what may be contributing to the movement in the overall score.

Q: Can I compare our index with another organisation's?

A: Yes, where the other organisation is also a Community Views client. The index uses a consistent set of attributes and a common scoring method, so comparisons between places can be a useful benchmark. But structural differences between places affect both what residents value and how they rate their experiences.

Q: Is a change in our index a direct measure of our organisation's performance?

A: Not by itself. The index summarises residents' reported values and experiences at each survey wave. A movement tells you that the combination of what residents value and how they experience their local area has shifted. The underlying attribute results can help identify what may be contributing to that movement, but the OLI should not be interpreted as a performance verdict on its own.