Categories and Indicators

AARP seeks a high quality of life for diverse populations across many ages. Producing such a quality of life, though, involves many complex factors. To create a reliable measure that captures this complexity, we intentionally designed the AARP Livability Index™ scoring criteria to draw on multiple, interconnected factors - categories and indicators - to present a complete picture of communities.

The Research Behind These Measures

The measures underlying the AARP Livability Index™ platform are based on years of research and evaluation. We worked in partnership with experts from the AARP Public Policy Institute (PPI), our consultant team, and PPI’s Technical Advisory Committee, which includes 30 experts in public policy, community planning, public health, aging, environmental studies, consumer affairs, and economics. This team engaged in a thorough process to identify and validate the metrics and policies that best measure the key aspects of livability.

We also conducted an individual preference survey of more than 4,500 people ages 50 and older to understand which characteristics make a community livable for different groups. We know, however, that personal preferences vary and change over time. AARP employs a variety of survey research to inform the selection of metrics and policies used in scoring. The intention is to reflect a wide range of preferences for people living at all stages of life.

Key survey output is available for consideration:

• AARP Home and Community Preferences: A National Survey of Adults Ages 18-Plus

• What is Livable? Community Preferences of Older Adults

The result of this collected work is a tool that sheds deep insight into what makes a community livable.

The Livability Categories

Components of the Scores: Indicators

Within the seven categories is the heart of the AARP Livability Index™ platform: the 61 indicators, made up of 40 metrics and 21 policies. Metrics measure how livable communities are in the present. Policies measure how communities might become more livable over time based on actions taken now.

The Data We Use

The AARP Livability Index™ team collects and analyzes data from more than 50 unique sources. We primarily rely on publicly available data provided by federal agencies or research institutions. In some cases, we use data from private sources to measure characteristics that are not captured by publicly available data. A host of organizations working on issues central to livability contributed the policy data used in the platform. As much as possible, we attempted to select data sources that provide data for the entire United States.

Twenty-three of the metrics evaluate livability at the neighborhood scale (defined as the census block, block group, tract, or high school district), while the others use data sources at higher levels of geography (metro area, city, or county). In some cases, it is more appropriate to measure metrics or policies at a larger scale. For example, income inequality is typically measured at the regional or county level to capture disparities among different neighborhoods, and state-level policies benefit everyone living within a state. In other cases, it would be preferable to measure a metric at the neighborhood level, but the best available data is at the county- or metro-area scale. Where we do not have neighborhood-level data, all neighborhoods within a county or metro area receive the same value as the county or metro area.

In some cases, existing data require extra calculations or statistical modeling to produce the best measure of community livability. This work includes:

• Combining multiple data sources, 

• Imputing values when data isn’t available using the national average (which results in neutral performance), or 

• Imputing values using the state or rural average if that appears to be more accurate than the national average.