Liveability Index

Our Liveability Index measures how people experience places in Port Stephens.

What is the Liveability Index?

Liveability is what a place is like to live in — a liveable place is a healthy place. We teamed up with PlaceScore to ask:
  • what people value about a place — this is called the Care Factor
  • how our places are performing — this is called PX

Liveability Index results

We conducted our first survey in September 2020, with over 3,700 participants. In 2020, Port Stephens scored a PX score of 66, just below the national average of 67.

We ran the survey again in September 2024, with over 2,300 participants.

We found that in Port Stephens, our ideal neighbourhood has:
  • a well maintained and managed public domain — footpaths, parks, roads and other public assets
  • locally owned and operated businesses that provide the community with their daily need.
  • easy to access shared community amenities.

Read more about our strengths and areas for improvement:

Benefits of a Liveability Index

The Liveability Index shows us our community's priorities and how places are performing. It helps us prioritise projects that will have the biggest impact on wellbeing. The Liveability Index gives us:
  • Baseline and trend data — we can measure change in wellbeing before and after projects. We can also compare this with other streets and towns in Australia.
  • Quantitative measures — we can now measure the strengths and weaknesses of places. We can also track their performance over time.
  • Evidence-based investment — we can identify the priorities of each local community. This helps us to invest in places based on what is most important to residents and their wellbeing.