Mesa County 2024 Community Survey

Magellan Strategies is pleased to present the topline results of a survey of 1,140 residents in Mesa County, Colorado. The interviews were conducted from August 1st – 8th, 2024.

When asked to identify the most pressing issues facing the county, residents pointed to affordable housing and homelessness as their foremost concerns, followed closely by roads and infrastructure, crime and public safety, and mental health and healthcare services. Residents also expressed a desire for more youth services and recreational opportunities, greater economic development, improved education funding, and attention to environmental sustainability.

Residents gave Mesa County relatively favorable marks for service quality compared to the state and federal government, though opinions on whether residents received good value for their tax dollars were nearly evenly split. A strong majority felt that current economic conditions in the county were unsatisfactory, even as most considered Mesa County a better place to live than other Colorado counties. Most residents said they planned to remain in the area over the next five years, though fewer were willing to actively recommend it to others.

The Motor Vehicle Office, Landfill, and Fairgrounds were the most recognized and positively regarded county departments, while departments like Planning, Building, Behavioral Health, and Code Compliance received lower familiarity and less favorable impressions overall. Residents were generally positive about county employee customer service but expressed considerably less confidence in the county’s responsiveness to community needs, its support for vulnerable populations, and its ability to address critical gaps in services.

County Commissioners received notably low marks across the board. Fewer than a third of residents felt commissioners were spending time on the right priorities, were responsive to community concerns, or were visible and accessible — and even fewer believed they prioritized transparency.

When it came to priority areas for county leadership, financial responsibility with public funds and public safety ranked as the most important issues, followed by local business growth and air and water quality. Residents were more divided on housing development and somewhat less enthusiastic about parks and trail connectivity as top governmental priorities.

Residents were split on whether the county should retain a TABOR refund for road and infrastructure improvements, with a slim majority in support. A proposal to use those funds for Justice Center improvements and expansion was opposed by a slight majority. On growth, residents felt job and retail growth were happening too slowly, while population growth was widely seen as occurring too fast. Views on residential housing growth were notably divided.

Regarding internet and connectivity, a significant portion of residents felt they lacked adequate home internet service, and an overwhelming majority supported both the county’s investment in better internet infrastructure and the addition of more internet providers to the area. In terms of how residents preferred to receive county communications, the county website, direct mail, Facebook, and television were the most commonly cited channels, with social media platforms like TikTok and Snapchat drawing far less interest.