Why the Livability Index?

Livability is an important topic and we want to help you understand it for places in which you live or want to live. When we researched how communities can best measure livability, we didn’t find a tool that comprehensively assessed livability at the neighborhood level and clearly showed residents and community stakeholders their communities’ assets and challenges. We wanted a better way to prompt community conversations and action regarding livable communities.

AARP created the AARP Livability Index™ platform to help fill this gap and promote ways to improve livability. It helps local residents, community advocates, and local policymakers understand the current situation in their communities and direct action to enhance independence, choice, and overall quality of life. All these groups share the work in ensuring community livability. The platform gives them the tools to ensure that residents of all ages are active, engaged and supported. 

The AARP Livability Index™ platform takes a holistic approach to understanding livability. It wasn’t created to solely measure the quality of the built environment or the health of residents. It includes those elements, but it also considers engagement, opportunity, and more. It encourages policymakers and professionals to get outside their areas of expertise and understand the interrelated nature of livability. For example, public health is influenced both by access to quality care and by neighborhoods that provide ample opportunity for people to be active as part of their daily lives. 

The AARP Livability Index™ platform is also unique in that it allows measurement by address, city, county, state, and ZIP code and reports scores for every neighborhood in the United States. Some previous indices have provided neighborhood-level analysis for the entire country, but for only one piece of livability, such as walkability or health. Others have offered neighborhood-level analysis for many categories of livability, but only for a single city, using local data. This national platform offers a complete analysis across geographic levels.