Ideas

At a time when polarization, disconnection, and inequity challenge our institutions and communities alike, Community Science is demonstrating how a measurable, actionable sense of community can serve as a practical strategy for community and system change.

As my colleague David Chavis wrote in his recent blog, “Where to Go from Here? Chaos, Cancellation, Conflict, or Community,” community is both a shared human experience and a strategic societal goal — one that transcends geography, identity, culture, and age. Community Science was founded on the principle that community matters. For decades, we’ve collaborated with local governments, foundations, and nonprofits on initiatives that place community — and the conditions that strengthen it — at the center.

David’s post made a compelling case for using community as a strategy to reduce polarization and isolation, strengthen civic participation and resilience, and support movement toward equity and justice for all. In this companion piece, I want to make the “how” more concrete: how the concept of sense of community can be measured, and how those measurements can guide practical community change efforts. Here’s how Community Science has helped partners assess sense of community and apply those findings to drive meaningful, measurable progress.

Turning an Idea into Action: Measuring Sense of Community

“Sense of community” can sound abstract — something everyone values but few know how to define. The foundational work of McMillan and Chavis (1986) translated this idea into measurable elements that reflect real-life experience. In practice, sense of community shows up in whether people feel safe and accepted, whether relationships and shared spaces meet their needs, whether they have a voice in shaping local decisions, and whether they feel emotionally connected to others.

Measuring these dimensions provides more than a score. It offers actionable insight: where community is strong, where it’s fraying, who experiences it differently, and what conditions can be improved to strengthen it.

Immigrant Integration in Colorado

In the early 2000s, Community Science evaluated The Colorado Trust’s immigrant integration initiative across 19 neighborhoods, towns, and cities. Assessing sense of community between immigrants and long-time residents helped illuminate the broader context for this statewide effort. We surveyed more than 1,000 people using the Sense of Community Index (SCI-1) and later SCI-2, ensuring the assessment was rigorous and comparable across communities.

Recognizing that sense of community is shaped by context, we grounded the assessment in specific settings where people live, work, play, and age. Respondents identified a key setting where they interacted with others — such as a school, workplace, or neighborhood — and reflected on their experience of belonging, safety, influence, and emotional connection.

Because the measurement was tied to specific settings, results were immediately useful for decisionmaking. Findings helped identify:

• Where to focus strategy and resources: We pinpointed the settings — most often schools and workplaces — where immigrants and long-time residents were most likely to interact. This helped The Trust and local partners prioritize interventions where relationships could be built.
• Why experiences differed across groups: In some contexts, sense of community varied sharply between immigrants and long-time residents. For example, in ski resort towns, immigrants often worked in the service sector while long-time residents had higher incomes and limited social contact with workers. These insights revealed opportunities to intentionally bridge divides in places where contact existed but was transactional or shaped by economic differences.

Our evaluation not only guided resource allocation but also revealed high sense of community in several rural areas — evidence that connection and mutual care were already strong in some places between immigrants and long-time residents. This nuance was key for The Trust’s strategy and is just as relevant today amid polarization.

Supporting Systems to Build Sense of Community

Measurement is only one part of the work. Community Science also provides technical assistance to help communities and institutions strengthen sense of community through policy, practice, and design.

For example, we facilitated a workshop with the city of Longmont, Colorado, focused on strengthening city services and resident involvement by building sense of community. We designed a questionnaire for city agencies to examine how programs and services support residents’ belonging, influence, and connection. The city also administered the Sense of Community Index, mapping results by neighborhood and linking them to civic engagement and community conditions.

These insights helped agencies assess how their policies and programs:

• Met residents’ needs and reflected their values;
• Promoted visible symbols of membership — logos, landmarks, public art — that built shared identity; and
• Increased residents’ influence in agency decisions and actions.

Community Science provided ongoing consultation as Longmont adapted its programs and services. This kind of applied measurement and learning helps public agencies move from intent to action — improving how services are designed, delivered, and experienced by residents.

Why This Matters — and What We Bring

Across these examples, one theme is clear: sense of community can be assessed in ways that are rigorous, relevant, and usable. When measured thoughtfully, it becomes a tool for strategy — helping funders, leaders, and communities decide where to focus; how to tailor approaches; and how to track belonging, influence, and trust over time.

At Community Science, this is what we do: translate community concepts into practical measurement and actionable learning. We help communities and institutions design strategies that are evidence-informed and grounded in lived experience. Specifically, we can help public agencies, foundations, and nonprofits:

• Assess sense of community in their areas of investment using SCI-2, qualitative tools, and unobtrusive methods;
• Consult on cultivating community as a strategy for equity and social justice; and
• Train leaders on how to operationalize community concepts in their own systems.

To explore resources and tools for measuring sense of community or to partner with us, visit the Sense of Community Website.